Running head: OBSERVATION #2 1

PLANNING

Observation #2 Planning

Allison Gerlach

Raritan Valley Community College

Professor Kimberly Schirner

April 20, 2019

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EDUC 230 Education Field Experience

I. Observation #2:
Planning

II. Grade Level and Subject Area:

Third Grade

III. Setting:
The Third-Grade classroom is located in the half circle building at the Willow School.
This building is where the Preschool to Fifth-Grade classrooms are as well as the
Library. There are six students, ages 8-9 years old, with two girls and four boys in
this class. There is one teacher in this classroom where the children learn Math,
Writing, Reading, and Social Studies. Science is taught by a different teacher in a
different building as a special.

IV. Pre-Observation:
Prior to my observation in the classroom I have some ideas of what to expect.
Although the Willow School is a private institution, I hope to see them using the New
Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) to coincide with their curriculum and lesson
plans. While they are not required to use this sequence in their school, it would be
beneficial for the students if they do. By keeping the students up to pace with the
thoroughly developed and current standards they are meeting the appropriate benchmarks
for their age as well as learning the same information that their peers would be in a public
school. Because the students at the Willow School come from different educational
backgrounds, it is important that they have that continuity from public school to private
school as far as learning is concerned. The NJSLS assure that students across the board
are learning 21st Century Life and Career skills, Health and Physical Education, English
and Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Technology, Visual and
Performing Arts, and World Languages (NJ Department of Education, n.d.).
I also expect to see evidence of collaboration in the planning process at Willow.
While there is only one classroom for each grade, collaboration among teachers is
important to the learning process. According to the New Jersey Professional Standards
for Teachers, teachers are expected to engage in collaborative learning to strengthen
individual instruction (NJ Department of Education, 2014a). The goal is to “lead to
improved learning for each student, using evidence of student achievement, action
research and best practice to expand a repertoire of skills, strategies, materials,
assessments and ideas to increase student learning” (NJDOE, 2014a). The importance of
teacher collaboration is further outlined by a study done by Ismail, Kanesan, and
Muhammad, titled “Teacher Collaboration as a Mediator for Strategic Leadership and
Teaching Quality” (2018). This study proves the benefits of collaboration by providing
evidence of the positive student achievements (Ismail, Kanesan, & Muhammad, 2018).
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V. Data:
Scope and Sequence of Third Grade
Math Language Arts Social Studies

Singapore Math Read Aloud: Virtues or Colonial America and

Curriculum SS related Westward Expansion
Has a scope and Book Club: Skills:
sequence that the whole Comprehension Maps, Timelines,
school follows Genres biographies, non-fiction
Inference
Figurative Language
Author’s Purpose
 Project Based Learning- Over time teacher truly believes in this and wants to
do this more at the school in the future and in her own classroom
 Experiential Learning
 Inquiry Based Learning- Questions sort of Montessori inspired. The students
ask a question and that drive the lesson from that point on
 K-W-L charts are big in her classroom and she gauges student interest from the
‘want to know’ section
 Weekly teacher meetings after school for one hour
 Work with 4th and 5th grade teachers on E days to plan together
 Did a project with the Kindergarteners in the beginning of the year to work with
the other grades
 Tries to plan integration of subjects as much as possible
 Is planning a big end of year project that incorporates work with the Handcrafts
teacher that is based on the themes from Social Studies and Language Arts
 Has filing cabinets with extra worksheets and projects so that she can pull from it
whenever she needs a lesson or a worksheet for skill reinforcement for a student
 Always prepared so that she can be flexible with her schedule
 She comes into school early in the morning to prepare the whole day’s work so
that she can change things up if she needs to
 Takes students interest into account when planning projects
 Genius hour is entirely student run so they are free to explore any topics that they
want to in that time frame
 One student made an intricate power point about horses she has trouble
focusing on other topics, but when she is given the space to explore things that
she is passionate about, she proves how focused she can be
 Works with specials teachers on projects to engage her students in different ways
 Evaluates and adjusts her curriculum each year to fix the sequence and standards
 Does not plan with regard to specific standards because she knows what is
appropriate for her age level
 The curriculum does not follow NJSLS but is loosely based on them does not
line up in Social Studies
 Does not need to submit anything to the head of school
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 Social studies is planned by semester. She looks at it as two separate topics so she
plans it that way
 Virtues are planned out by month prior to the start of school so she has an idea
about what things she will do based on those themes
 She plans monthly mostly with attention to special months Black history
month, women’s history month, poetry month, etc.
 Math: she has a semester overview but she plans monthly/ weekly for units.
Homework and details she focuses on daily so that she can refine it by the needs
of her students
 Language arts has a yearly arc. She plans which read aloud books she will read
and which books she will use for book clubs over the summer. She adjusts the
specifics on a monthly weekly basis
 She had to develop the curriculum for Westward expansion because it is the first
year that the third grade is learning it. Each year the curriculum gets stronger as
she gets a chance to refine it
 She tries to align her read aloud/ book club books with the social studies topics
 Over the summer she furthers her research on the topics that she is teaching the
next year (specifically in social studies) so that the curriculum is as strong as she
can make it
 It is important to tweak your plans as you teach because the students’ needs are
ever changing
 Emergent curriculum explore what the children pick up on
 Explore what the children want (so much space for student interest that they can
foster their love of learning) ex. Students interested in animals so they focus on
the aspect of a unit with the perspective of animals
 The fourth graders take a standardized test called the ERBs

VI. Analysis:
The prevalence of collaboration in this teacher’s planning process is strong. She
uses her planning time appropriately and works with other teachers frequently (NJ
Department of Education, 2014a). The school’s policy about having teacher meeting and
shared planning periods is a good idea to encourage collaboration and professional
development (Ismail, Kanesan, & Muhammad, 2018). Individually speaking, this
teacher’s plans are also strong. She adequately plans ahead and adjusts her lessons to
meet the needs of her students (Kean University, n.d.). As for the collaboration that she
plans for for her students that is also very advantageous. In order for her students to teach
the younger children something, they have to thoroughly understand that topic
themselves first. Not only does the partnership between the younger and older students
create a positive learning environment but it also builds a stronger student community
(Gatens, 2016).
Another positive thing that this teacher works into her curriculum is the
involvement of student interests. By integrating multiple subjects into the lesson, she is
leaving space for her students to be engaged further as well as strengthening her delivery
of instruction by using more resources in her planning. The idea of having a genius hour
is great. It allows the students to explore their interests while encouraging them to
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research and create projects. When students are allowed to grow through their interests
their love of learning grows as well (NJ DOE, 2014a).

VII. Recommendations:
The fact that the Willow school only loosely bases its curriculum on the NJ
Student Learning Standards is a little concerning. The overall sequence of the curriculum
of the school does cover all the same topics that public schools would but in different
orders. If a student were to arrive at the Willow school any year after preschool, they
would be in danger of missing important educational skills because of the different
curriculum. Also, the lack of attention to the Social Studies learning standards is not
good. The social studies curriculum is not set in stone at all. The teachers are left to their
own devices to develop the curriculum for their students. While they should know what is
appropriate and important content to teach, there is no guidelines to keep them consistent.
There are also topics that they are missing. For example, the lower school does not cover
the topics of World War I or World War II. In a public school they would be introduced
to these areas of history but at the Willow school they do not learn about them until at
least sixth grade, two years after the NJSLS suggest they be taught (NJ DOE, 2014b).

VIII. Post Observation:

While it was not necessary for this observation, something that I thought about
was my lack of attention to the students’ role in the topic. I surly did analyze the role of
the students in planning but in upcoming observations I will need to look at student
involvement and engagement in the lessons. I am glad that I have been made aware of
this before I do the observation of the instructor taught lesson so I can be conscious of
how the students are doing during. This is a very important skill that I will need to have
as an effective teacher so I am eager to start practicing this.

IX. Citations:

Gatens, B. (2016, February 22). Older Students Are Great Mentors for Younger Students.

Retrieved from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-teaching-

strategies/older-students-mentor-younger-students/

Ismail, S. N., Kanesan, A. G., & Muhammad, F. (2018). Teacher Collaboration as a Mediator for

Strategic Leadership and Teaching Quality. International Journal of Instruction, 11(4),

485–498. Retrieved from

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1191689&site=eds

-live
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Kean University. (n.d.). EFFECTIVE LESSON PLANNING, DELIVERY TECHNIQUES.

Retrieved from

https://www.kean.edu/~tpc/Classroom%20Management/EFFECTIVE%20LESSON%20P

LANNING%20&%20Classroom%20Mgmt.ht

NJ Department of Education. (2014, April 1). New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers

Alignment with InTASC. Retrieved from

https://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/profstand/ProfStandardsforTeachersAlignment

withInTASC.pdf

NJ Department of Education. (2014). New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Social Studies.

NJ Department of Education. (n.d.). New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Retrieved from

https://www.nj.gov/education/cccs/