FIELD OBSERVATION: EDU 203 1

Field Observation

Mary Ann Tanada

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 203: Introduction to Special Education

Dr. Dale B. Warby

October 13, 2020

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Field Observation

This year's field observation was different than the past semester. For starters, we are

currently in a global pandemic. Everyone needed to practice social distancing of at least 6 feet

away from each other. Schools also have to be closed down and introduced to distance learning,

also known as a virtual class. Teachers, students, parents, and everyone else had to learn to adjust

for the significant change to come. Field observation is a crucial part to take when heading into a

career as an educator. Students taking an introduction class to education are required to take up at

least 10 hours of observation in a classroom with a cooperating teacher. For the assignment, I

was fortunate enough to be placed in a school with such a phenomenal educator to guide them on

this journey. The students call her Ms. Stokey from Hayes elementary school. Ms. Stokey

teaches fourth grade to 25 students. The teacher introduced myself to the class and thus started

my observation.

My assigned school was not too far from where I live. I would see the school whenever I

would walk my dog, so I was excited to observe that I was doing an observation at Hayes

Elementary School. From where I live, which is not too far from the school, surrounded by

houses and the school seemed to have a big open grass area with a sign that says "Hayes

Stronger" despite the pandemic. Hayes elementary school does have a website with essential

resources, and from the pictures that I have seen, it seemed as the school is all about the spirit

with hallways decorated and painted with their mascot. They are known as the "Hayes Heroes."

When I started my first day, my first impression of the classroom was that the teacher

and the student interact with one another at all times. I noticed that most of the students are also

cooperating by sitting upright, while other students preferred lying down. Nonetheless, the

majority of the students were still paying attention and engaged. The classroom consists of 25
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students, with having 11 boys and 14 girls. Two students are ELL, and five students in total that

are IEP. The first few minutes after the class has started, the teacher asked the students if they

had any questions regarding yesterday's assignments. The teacher greets students with such

warmth, and you can tell that she genuinely cares for her students. With that said, the teacher

expects students to come to class every day, prepared and ready to learn.

My cooperating teacher has sent me her weekly schedule and the sessions she has with

her students. Most of the week's days, the teacher has live meetings through Google Meet with

her students. For each subject comes with different meeting times. For instance, she starts her

sessions right at 8 in the morning for the Reading portion. The next topic, Writing, won't be until

11 am due to lunchtime for the kids and attending their specials for that day. The teacher does

well in making sure all students understand the work by providing plenty of visuals and

screenplay to her students. She also stays online in Google Meet after assigning the classwork for

that session, just if a student may have any questions. That student can pop back into the session

and ask the teacher for help if needed.

I asked the teacher what the biggest takeaway was for this year, and she replied that

communication is key to everything if you want to have a successful year. She also contacts the

parents to keep them updated, such as if a student hasn't been logging into the Google Meet

sessions or hasn't been turning in any homework assigned. Another way to keep track of her

students is a website called GoGuardian. With this website, the teacher can check her students'

laptop screens and focus on making sure they are doing their work. It is a great tool that teachers

have, especially if a student has any questions about the classwork, the teacher can log into

GoGuardian and see that student's screen and get the help that way. Of course, the teacher does

not have access to all of her student's screen because it only works through the laptop that was
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given by the school district. If a student has a personal laptop, then the teacher cannot see their

screen view.

Ms. Stokey's learning style includes various types of visuals that help the engagement of

her students. Since everything is virtual, it's imperative that she includes presentations and

interact with her students to help keep them focused. One of the teacher's primary classrooms

rules this to be kind and respect one another and use appropriate language, especially in the chat

board. Since her classroom has a mixture of GATE students and IEP students, the teacher breaks

down the sessions after the main subject in small groups and those that want to work solo.

Canvas's website is where the students can keep track of their work and see what the lesson for

the day was all about. All of the presentations the teacher provided would be upload after the

class just in case if a student missed out on if they want to go back. The teacher's way to see if a

student gets the work and understands it is by giving a thumbs up after she announced the

appointment assigned work. The teacher can focus on students that need extra help. On some

days, the teacher gets support from another teacher, Mrs. Harris, she is a special education

teacher that pops into her class sessions a few times a week.

Part of the observation was to observe a student and right of the bat discretely. I noticed a

student that seemed like she was in an actual classroom setting and wearing headphones. It turns

out that her parents drop her off to some daycare everyone so that an adult is looking after her,

and if she needed extra help, she has one. I saw other kids of all ages who are also distance

learning from her computer screen that their parents also dropped them off. Whenever I see her

in the Google Meet sessions, the student was obedient and would follow directions. The student

will again ask the teacher if she can stay logged in even after most of her classmates have already
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logged out of the session. I also observed the student playing with her hair, glasses, and talking

to other kids in the same room. Nothing too abnormal for a student of her age.

Within my ten-hour field observation, there was a section where I got to interview the

teacher with a series of questions provided. She told me how many teachers, including her, felt

like first-timers with all the changes and learning to adapt to them. I asked the teacher if it was

more accessible with virtual learning, and she replied that it was more challenging as it requires

more work. Several hours per week have put up for preparation, but thankfully she mentions

other teachers help each other. An excellent way for every student to be on the same page is by

teachers for paying lessons and activities together within the same grade group. I asked the

teacher what her primary reason for becoming a teacher, and she replied that she loves helping

out others and being part of their educational endeavors. She claims that it's one of the best parts

of being a teacher and a rewarding career to top it off. Some of the challenges she faces are all

the responsibility upon her when teaching and getting her kids prepared for upcoming

assessments. Each teacher is expected to follow the school district's core standards, and

sometimes it can get overwhelming and stressful but knowing that you're making a difference is

undoubtedly worth it. I also asked the teacher what advice she would give someone like me who

is stepping foot into an education career, and she replied always to be creative. If you love what

you do, everything else falls into place.

Overall my field observation has been such a great experience, and I am fortunate enough

for this opportunity. I cannot help but think that I will finally get my class every student one day

throughout my observation. This opportunity makes me much more excited to finish school and

starts my adventure into being an educator.

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References

https://hayeselementary.com/