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Sophomore Field Paper

Carlee Sanders
Northern State University

EPSY 302, Educational Psychology

Dr. DiLivio
Spring, 2015

Introduction
At the wonderful establishment of Northern State University I am perusing a degree in
Elementary Education and Special Education with an endorsement in middle school English, as
well as an endorsement in Early Childhood. With the help of NSUs very own field placement
committee, I was giving the incredible opportunity to do my sophomore field experience in the
spring of 2015. On the dates of February 17th and 18th I walked into Wonderful Intellects
Academy in Pierre, SD. Once I had checked into the office and personally thanked the Principal
Goodguy for this great opportunity, I was on my journey to my first taste of being an Elementary
Educator. Once I walked into my assigned classroom, I re-introduced myself to Mrs. Intellect.
When the children arrived and sat at their desks I introduced myself to the fourth grade
class, then I quietly sat in the back of the classroom to watch and listen to Mrs. Intellect give her
first lesson of the morning. Throughout the first day of my field experience I watched, observed
and listened intently to Mrs. Intellect as she educated the students on many areas of the
curriculum. I also followed them to their other classes such as computers and music class. I
willingly took notes as well as helped Mrs. Intellect with her lessons by walking around the
classroom to answer questions when needed as well as making sure the children were on task.
On the second day of my experience I did a lot more helping around the classroom as
Mrs. Teacher allowed me to help the students with their math lessons, grade their homework
assignments and supervise recess. It wasnt until towards the end of the school day that I felt
confident enough to ask Mrs. Intellect if I could possibly teach the writing lesson of the day to
get even more of a taste on what its like to teach a good size classroom; Mrs. Intellect kindly
accepted my request. I taught the children about comparing adjectives while doing an activity
together. I also introduced their writing journal prompt. After I was done speaking I walked

around the classroom making myself available for any questions or comments. It was such a rush
being able to teach an actual lesson to an actual classroom!

The Students
Developmental Characteristics: The average age of Mrs. Intellects classroom would be
approximately 10.5 years of age. However, when it came to the Piagetian development stage I
would have to concur that the students were between two stages. Every child in Mrs. Intellects
students were in both the Concrete Operational Stage as well as the Formal Operations Stage..
These stage ranges from ages seven to eleven which corresponds to the average age of Mrs.
Intellects fourth grade classroom.
According to Educational Psychology Theory and Practice, by Robert E. Slavin
Children at this stage can form concepts, see relationships, and solve problems, but only as long
as they involve objects and situations that are familiar. Children at this age are able to establish
conservation, practice reversibility, assemble things in order and comprehend cause-and-effect.
However, their thinking is still concrete. I saw this first hand that everyone is at this stage in the
classroom, all at different speeds, while we they were working on their math lesson. Each child
knows how to subtract which is a prime example of reversibility.
Robert E. Slavin also quotes, The preadolescent begins to be able to think abstractly and
to see possibilities beyond the here and now. These abilities continue to develop into
adulthood.(pg. 35) Children in this stage are able to think and reason more logically as well as
hypothetically. Children in this stage are also starting to think about their future, which is what I
saw when the students were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. A lot of the kids

that were in Mrs. Intellects classroom already had picked out where they wanted to go to college
it is amazing!
When it comes to Eriksons Stages I strongly believe that Mrs. Intellects class is in
Eriksons Stage IV (6-12) of their socioemotional development. Eriksons Stage IV is known as
the psychosocial crisis of Industry vs. Inferiority. This stage is crucial to kids since this is the age
where they start attending school. Success brings with it a sense of industry, a good feelings
about ones and ones abilities. Failure creates a negative self-image, a sense of inadequacy that
may hinder future learning. (Robert E. Slavin pg. 50) I could definitely see that Mrs. Intellects
students were in this stage not only because of their age, but because they were constantly
awaiting for either Mrs. Intellect or me to give them praise for their good work, even if it was
little things. Another way I saw this stage in the classroom was when the students were
constantly raising, almost straining, their hands to answer a question so that they may receive
good praise and have a sense of accomplishment in the classroom.
Diversity: When it came to the Mrs. Intellects classroom there was an adequate amount
of diversity in her classroom. The class seemed to be just about evenly divided between boys and
girls because her classroom was set up to have two girls sitting side by side and then two boys
sitting side by and side and so on. The race of Mrs. Intellects classroom was also just about
evenly divided between primarily Caucasian and Native American students. A good few of the
students that were in Mrs. Intellects class had parents that were teachers that I remember having
when I lives in Pierre. This shows that the socioeconomic status of the teachers classroom was
primarily middle class.
There was at least one student that I observed in class that seemed to have a hard time
with writing, and needed assistance with his writing practices. I saw this when I had to grade

papers and Mrs. Intellect crossed out the write a paragraph portion where he had to write the
order of birds being hatched. The teachers had made an accommodation for him to just write the
number of order the birds being hatched went into. I love how she did this because it made him
feel smart and excited when I returned his graded paper. He was learning the same thing, just in a
different practice.
Mrs. Intellect also used a speaker system for those whom may be hard of hearing. Every
teacher has this assistive technology in their classroom. Each teacher has a little microphone that
hangs around the teachers neck making her voice more amplified to the speakers that have been
placed in all four corners of the room. I found this tool to be very helpful for the students. Not
being able to hear the teacher can be frustrating and could put a strain on ones academics; this
tool definitely helps.

The Classroom
Mrs. Intellect had a lot of neat ideas that were utilized in her instructional methods that fit
the developmental stage of her students. I had noticed that she tends to favor direct instruction by
the fact that she did a good portion of the talking and lecturing throughout the days I was
observing. Mrs. Intellect believes that children learn by doing, however, when these fourth
graders get to middle and high school and even to college, they mostly sit through lectures and
learn through direct instruction. She believes she is preparing them for their future classes. I can
see her point on her logic. Children learn best through play because they get hands on learning,
however, there also comes a time where young children need to be able to sit eight hours a day
and listen to lectures.

Mrs. Intellect also uses whole class discussions when they were working on math and
science. She would randomly pick students to read paragraphs in their text books by selecting
straws, which the children really enjoyed. She also gave a direct cue of pointing to herself as she
asked a question and then would point to the class as they all orally recited answers to her
questions at least three times. The class would then work on the textbook assignment that would
be due as homework the next morning.
When it came to language arts Mrs. Intellect favored the group discussions method. She
would count the children off into groups of five. Once the students were situated she would allow
the children to decide how they would split the reading portions amongst themselves. One neat
idea Mrs. Intellect had to make sure they students were staying on task was she would walk
around with a notepad and make notes as to how to groups were utilizing teamwork and
cooperation. After each group had read through the story she would announce the best group that
read the quietest and had good teamwork skills. These children would get some sort of reward at
the end of the day.
Towards the end of the school day the children work on their writing lesson. The children
practice their writing skills through journaling. Before the students start writing in their
notebooks, Mrs. Intellect projects the daily question on the overhead. She then reads the question
to the class, and gives them a little bit more insight on what she is asking them to write about.
After she asks if there are any questions she allows the children to write in their journals. They
just write at least a paragraph and she was always available to answer questions or to help a
student get started with an idea.
In regards to the behavior of the students in Mrs. Intellects class I was extremely
impressed at how well behaved her classroom was during my visit. Mrs. Intellect admitted to me

that her classroom isnt usually that quiet, and that their true colors will come out eventually. She
also acknowledged to me that she runs a tight ship when it comes to the behavior in her
classroom. On the second day of my observation there were two mishaps during inside recess
that caused Mrs. Intellect to have to deal with the relapse in good behavior of two students; they
were picking on a couple of girls in class.
Mrs. Intellect had approached the two boys she quietly and calmly had them join her in
the hallway to discuss the misfortune that had just taken place. Both the boys confessed to their
relapse of judgment which earned them some of Mrs. Intellects appreciate for being honest.
However, she resulted that a consequence was in order due to the altercation with their offended
female classmates. Mrs. Intellect decided it would be best to have the two boys sit in the
hallways for a few minutes to think about what they have done. Once they were allowed to come
back into the classroom they were directed to apologize to the girls they had been picking on,
which were graciously accepted by the young ladies.
There were three really neat ideas that I observed Mrs. Intellect use to promote good
behavior. The first idea is one that I will definitely remember for my future classroom. When I
first walked into Mrs. Intellects classroom I noticed that in the front of the classroom there was
this large, fancy wooden desk and on the front was a name plate that read C.E.O. I asked Mrs.
Intellect what this was for and she had told me that C.E.O stands for Chief Example of Others.
Each week Mrs. Intellect will watch for students that are practicing good behavior such:
being quiet, turning their homework in on time, working quietly and playing nice with others. At
the end of the week Mrs. Intellect announced the classrooms C.E.O for the next whole week.
The C.E.O gets to sit at the big desk, write on the board at Mrs. Intellects request, pass out
papers and be the line leader. Of course eventually everyone in the class gets to have a turn to be

the C.E.O at least once throughout the year. I thought this was such a neat idea that would really
promote good behavior. If I was in (or back in) Mrs. Intellects class I would try my best to have
a chance at being the classrooms C.E.O
Another fun idea I observed to promote good behavior was the BONE-ified Good
Behavior approach. On one of the walls there was each childs name with a pocket right below
it. On the floor near the wall was a dog bowl full of laminated paper cutouts of bones.
Throughout the day Mrs. Intellect would select students whom were promoting good behavior to
go and put one of the bones into their individual pockets.
At the end of the day Mrs. Intellect would call the kids who had bones in their pocket to
count the bones. Mrs. Intellect would then grab a punch card that is also in each students pocket
and punch a holes in the card; one bone equals three punches. Once a student fills up a whole
card with punches he/she gets to do something special. For example, one student filled up their
card so that child was allowed to chew gum throughout class. It was a fun idea that the class
really look forward to at the end of the day.
Lastly, another method Mrs. Intellect used to promote good behavior was the class vs.
teacher points system. Everyday Mrs. Intellect puts students vs. teacher on the board.
Throughout the day if the children are being well behaved, she will give them points. However,
if the students are not listening or not transitioning quietly, she will give herself points. The
points are tallied at the end of the week. The goal is for the students to get so many points at the
end of the month to receive a special prize such as being able to have gum in class or to have a
movie and junk food day etc.

Watching the kids face light up when they received points was wonderful. Also, it was
amazing how quiet the children would get and how they would tell their classmates to be quiet
when they saw Mrs. Intellect give herself a point. I will definitely try to utilize this approach in
my future classroom because it is very effective.
When it came to the classroom set up, I was quite intrigued with the way she had the
desks organized. She had strategically placed the desks in an order I never wouldve thought
about. She had six desks in the front facing the board in a rectangular form. She also had the
remaining desks almost boxing in those six center desks with one long row in the back and two
long rows cornering the center facing each other. I had asked Mrs. Intellect why she had the
desks set up this way and she had told me that she changes the seating chart once a month, and
she does it this way because she knows that grouping the students in pods temps them to talk
during class.
One feature I really liked about Mrs. Intellects classroom was the smell. She had a scent
distributor that would systematically release a warm and inviting scent that I found quite
calming. I found this feature really nice for the classroom environment because students want to
feel welcomed and secure in their classroom. A warm and inviting scent would be the perfect
way to have kids feel a little more warmth and security during school hours.
Another aspect I really liked about her classroom was the way she had her reading
environment set up. After lunch the students participate in DEAR (Drop Everything and Read)
time. During this time children, who are assigned weekly, were allowed to sit in the reading
center. This center had a lamp that had a soft calming glow to it. The center also had five or six
pillows for the kids to sit on or use however they please to be comfortable. The students also had
the option to take a pillow out of the reading center and into another place in the classroom.

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During DEAR time the lights were mostly off and it was a relaxing time for everyone to be able
to take a break from learning, digest their lunch, and calmly read their book of choice.

Reflection
I can justly say that if I ever had any fragment of doubt about wanting to be an educator,
it was unquestionably eliminated due to my sophomore field experience. I loved every minute
that I was able to observe, help and even teach those students to learn and to grow! Mrs. Intellect
has taught me many strategies and given me plenty of hints and tips that I cannot wait to utilize
in my future classroom. I was excited to see what I have been learning in school is being used in
an everyday classroom, and that I actually will be able to apply what I have learned in an actual
classroom someday.
I know I still have quite a bit of more learning and practice to do before I am able to fully
grasp my dream of being an intentional teacher. However, being able to jump on in and teach a
lesson and getting the kids excited to learn what I was about to teacher them, was one of the most
rewarding experiences I couldve ever received. That experience was a big part in helping me
decide that being a teacher is exactly what I want to do for a career. I want to be able to make a
positive impact on kids and to help them grow into being the best they can be. I cant think of a
better way to do that, than to be the best teacher I can be.
Since I have established that I want to be a teacher in the future I would most definitely
want to learn more about how to write decent lesson plans. This has always been the biggest fear
for me when it comes to becoming a teacher. Writing an effective lesson plan that has to be
turned into the principal every week is very intimidating. I want to be able to confidently fill out
a lesson plan without being nervous and second guessing myself.

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Although I wish that my sophomore field experience was longer than two days, I will
cherish what I have learned. I am so grateful that I was given the wonderful experience to be able
to observe, help and teach an actual classroom. The techniques and strategies I have learned
throughout this experience will stay with me as I continue on my journey to becoming a future
educator.

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Works Cited
Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational psychology: Theory and Practice (11th ed.). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon