Running Head: OBSERVATION #1 SETTING 1

Observation 1
Megan Waddell
Raritan Valley Community College
Professor Kimberly Schirner
March 1, 2019

EDUC 230 03 Field Experience

SETTING 2

● Observation #1:
Setting

● Grade Level and Subject Area:

Kindergarten through 8th grade Art Education

● Setting:
The classroom is an art studio within a private school that teaches kindergarten
through eighth grade. There is one instructor that teaches multiple grades each
day.

● Pre Observation:
Before entering this classroom, I would expect the space to be very
functional. It should look very different than a typical homeroom classroom
where other core subjects are taught. This is because the daily activities vary
greatly compared to a typical classroom. It is important to have a well thought out
space in order to make progress with each class a teacher has. Without a
functional workspace, it is challenging to get through the day. “...the landscape
urges and determines our movement and thus our embodied interaction with
place” (Nolte-Yupari 2017). How easy people can move through the room as well
as how easily accessible the materials can make or break an art room. There
should be a purpose to everything in the room and should be organized
proactively in order to help the teacher move through her lessons.
Based on previous experiences in a public school, art classrooms should
have larger tables where projects can be completed. Having wood tables and tile
floors make for easier cleanup, since an art room can easily become messy. While
there needs to be reasonable surfaces for clean up, there should also be softer
touches to appeal to younger students (Bloome 2013). The classroom should be
inviting so the students feel comfortable in it. Trying be creative and use your
imagination is more difficult in a space that is boring and uncomfortable. The
more positive a space feels, the better students will work. This can be executed
through pieces of art hung on the walls or even a carpet placed in the room away
from the workspace. Overall, I expect this classroom to be creative and
welcoming while also keeping functionality in mind.

● Data:
● The Classroom is within a building that contains other art rooms such as a
handcrafts room and a small musical auditorium.
● The classroom has a ramp on one side leading to the upper level of the building.
● The ramp handlebar is made of wood and there are wire chords that run the length
of each section.
● There is a door that leads to the outside on one side of the classroom. It is always
locked and needs a key to be opened from the outside.
SETTING 3

● There are two windows along the outside walls of the classroom. In the
windowsill there are various books such as previous yearbooks and basic
instructional step-by-step drawing books.
● There are offices and a small kitchen that is attached to the art room through a
hallway. They have doors that can be closed so they can control the noise level
when necessary.
● There are also doors to the upstairs handcraft room and the hallway that leads to
the music auditorium. They can also be closed when needed.
● There are two farmhouse style sinks about 2 - 3 feet off the ground
● There are paper towels and regular fabric towels right next to the sink.
● There are four large wooden tables spaced around the fool. Two are at an average
table height while the other two are about half a foot higher.
● There are 4 - 6 stools placed evenly around each table. There are shorter stools at
the two shorter tables are larger stools at the higher tables.
● On each table, there is a plastic container containing materials such as colored
pencils, colored Sharpie markers, regular Crayola markers, small safety scissors,
glue sticks, block and stick erasers, and crayons.
● There are drawers within each table, underneath the top part. The drawers contain
various paper sizes, scrap paper and watercolor paint palettes.
● There is a shelving unit on the side of the classroom located near the door. It hold
the students sketchbooks that they have brought from home.
● Lower on the shelving unit, it hold tools for clay such as sculpting tools, plastic
ribs and rolling pins.
● There is a whiteboard on another side of the classroom, above the ramp walkway.
They have various markers on it and the instructor occasionally writes on it
during instruction.
● There is a projector in the room that the instructor can connect her laptop to to
show presentations, pictures and videos. It projects onto the whiteboard.
● There are speakers that are on the counter on the side of the room. The instructor
can connect them to her laptop and control the volume so the classroom can hear
the audio that corresponds with a video.
● On the inside corner of the classroom opposite the door, there are many shelves
for storage. There is construction paper in every color of the rainbow. There are
also shelves labeled with the different grades kindergarten through eight. The
student put there project that are in progress on these shelves so they can be found
for the next class they have.
● Along the same wall to the left of the shelves, there is a electrical pencil sharpener
and the school phones that they staff can call to reach the instructor.
● To the left of the phone on the same wall, there are storage boxes that have less
used but still needed materials such as, exacto knives, tacky glue and paint
brushes.
● On the counter in front of the supplies, there are five classroom IPads. They have
screen protectors and cases on them. The students use them during class to look
up reference photos or research possible topics for their assignments. They do not
get used when instruction is being done but only when it is independent work
time.
SETTING 4

● There is a small one person bathroom in the corner of the classroom by the door.
There are also female and male bathrooms at the end of the hallway by the music
auditorium.
● There are many art pieces done by student hung around the classroom. There are
also prints of professional work either for reference or inspiration.

● Analysis:
When I first joined the classroom, I noticed the unique layout of the room.
Prior to the school campus being used for education, it was used as a home so the
building's foundation is unlike a typical school. When you first enter the room,
you get a good view of everything, including the ramp to the rest of the building.
The ramp in the classroom was most likely there before it was intended to be used
as a classroom. It adds nice movement to the rest of the building so the other
rooms flow together. There were offices on the opposite side of the room. I found
that is was a good place to have them because they were away from the busyness
of the room. They had doors that could be closed so the other teachers could stay
focused during their prep time. There were also a few windows on various sides
of the room so there was nice light added inside.
The middle of the room is where the work tables are. There are four tables,
two shorter ones and two taller ones. This variation is good for this type of school
SETTING 5

because it educated students in kindergarten all the way through eighth grade. It
may not look like it to some, but high stools can be very dangerous for lower
school children. The tables are also large enough for each student to have more
than enough room to work on an assignment. The tables are fairly close together
so sometimes the students may bump into one another while getting up and down
from their seats. The students are able to see the teacher from most spots in the
room but if she is doing a demonstration, the have to gather around on the the
tables to watch in detail.
The materials are placed in various storage shelves throughout the room.
They are stored along two different walls. Some of the storage bins are labeled
and some are not. There are shelves with different paint and paper on them. Some
students know where the majority of the supplies are but a larger amount have to
frequently ask the teacher where something is located. There are also shelves for
each grade in the school. Some grades have shelves that are overstuffed with
barely any room left while other grades’ shelves are more organized. There is also
a sink located in the middle of the room. This provides a functional space for
students to wash materials and themselves. It is out of the way so they can clean
up without disturbing others who are still working.

● Recommendations:
Overall, the classroom has a nice setting. The students are able to
complete assignments, but it could be improved so the lessons are completed with
more ease. Many times throughout the class, students had to ask where materials
such as paper or markers are. This could easily be solved by labeling shelves and
boxed with what each space contains. As shown in my improved floor plan, the
materials would be better suited near the students so they can easily pause their
work to find what they need. The students will be able to solve their own
problems by looking around the classroom and finding supplies themselves. This
will also give the instructor more time to help with more important issues that the
students have. Materials could have also been given more space. While a
teacher’s curriculum should not be restricted by the type of materials they can use,
it can be a big help to use materials that are lighter and easier to deal with
(Bresler, 1998). The classroom would seem less chaotic if there was more
organization given to the physical object in the room.
There is a need for more student work inside the classroom. Maybe
instead of posting famous professional artists’ work, the teacher could display
student work to inspire the students and remind them why they are in the class. “It
is important, however, that the art classroom is seen by students primarily as a
place of learning, as a place organized by professionals for the purpose of learning
about and producing art” (Hickman, 2001). It can easily remind the students that
they have a goal to reach and to strive for their best art piece yet. It can also give
them a sense of accomplishment. The instructor can hand each project up for a
week or two and then give to students to take home so that way the classroom
does not become over cluttered.
SETTING 6

● Post Observation:
After experiencing a private school art room, I have learned that an art
room can be organized in many different ways and still be completely functional.
I appreciated that the room had a ramp connected to the other rooms in the
building. It gave the option to be secluded when needed but not entirely closed
off. Over the course of many days, I was able to watch the students work
productively with little problems here and there that were easily solved. The
instructor told me she had spent three years in this classroom so she was still
testing new ideas and figuring out what worked best for her school. The room
may have looked very different if she was dealing with just elementary or
secondary students but in this case, she needed to accomodate for both. It
definitely is hard when you’re working with so many different grade levels but
there are solutions to most of the little challenges she is facing. While there were
still factors about the room that I would change, overall it was a great setting for
the students in the school.
● Citation:
Bresler, L. (1998). "Child art." "fine art," and "art for children": The shaping of
school practice and implications for change. Arts Education Policy
Review, 100(1), 3-10. Retrieved from
SETTING 7

https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/211001278?accountid=13438
Broome, J. L. (2013). A case study in classroom management and school
involvement: Designing an art room for effective learning. Art Education,
66(3), 39-46. Retrieved from
https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/1355279565?accountid=13438
Hickman, R. (2001). Art rooms and art teaching. Art Education, 54(1), 6-11.
Retrieved from https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-
proquest-com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/199370988?accountid=13438
Nolte-Yupari, S. (2017). Everything into one place: Beginning teachers and the
K-12 art room taskscape. Studies in Art Education, 58(3), 222-233.
http://dx.doi.org.ezp.raritanval.edu/10.1080/00393541.2017.1331090