CSN EduCatiOn Department - Alternative Field Observation Activities Packet

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Greetings Future Educatof

One of the most rewarding aspects of EDU 2O1,2O2, or 203 is the opportunity you'll have to observe in
a school classroom where students are actively engaged in leaming. Each of these three CSN courses
require students to complete a 10 hour 'Field Observation' in a Clark County public school. lf CDC
Guidelines for Covid-19 prevent you from physically attending a school campus during the cunent
semester, this packet will offerthe altemative experiences required to satisfy your "Field Observation"
requirements for this class virtually.

lf possible to pair you with a cooperating GCSD teacher, your placement will be processed by CSN's
observation coordinator, and you will receive details rcgarding your assigned school from your CSN
profassor. Only then, will you contact the school and meet virtually with your assigned CCSD
'cooperating teachef. Both you and your cooperating teacher will design a mutually agreeable schedule
to complete your required contact hours once you meet for the first time.

Within this packet, you will find the required field experience a,ssignments that you must complete in
order to pass this class.

your Name:
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CSN Course: eDt: 2c, i -
Professor: SL-,:a,- 6, fiJaS

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CCSDSchool: Dqq.r (Grv-rr' A \r€n {'i.t rr{rttC-.1 acr,cci
Cooperating Teacher:
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Alternative Field Observation Packet @ CSN Ed Deparlment 2020 1

Assignment 1: Culture

Physical Characteristics: Look ot o picture(s) of the school to determine atmosphere,

comfort, andfeelings the school creotesfor students in the educationol setting.

1. Consider the school property: building, grounds, fencing, equipment,

Iandscaping, trees, parking lot, crosswalks, gates, signs, and symbols. Describe in
detail.

The building is a beige color with horses on the front. It looks no different to all the
school building in Las Vegas. It mimics the desert. The school itself is not surrounded by
a gate but the playground is. There are roughly three crosswalks in the front of the
building. There are several trees from palms to others. The front of the building does say
mustang so I have reason to believe that the mustang is the mascot.

2. Next, (if available) study the interior have the school: halls, floor coverings,
lighting, doors, windows, hall colors and decorations and entrance security. Explain
in detail.

Not available, classes were instructed online. I was not able to visit the inside of the
school.

Culture of the School: Read, lkten and/or observe to determine the climate, values, and
atmosphere within the school

1.What are your first impressions of the school? Enrollment, graduation rate,
proficiency rates, students/teacher ratio etc.

I cannot answer for enrollment, graduation rate, or proficiency rates for this information
was not available. I did find information on student/teacher ratio which is roughly 18
students per teacher which I think is amazing. My elementary school had an average of
25 students per class so I believe 18 is much better than 25. I did frnd a website that
spoke of the students test scores in this school. According to greatschools.org students
scored an average of 57%o in reading, 49yo in math, and 4lYo in science. Which is better
than the state average which was 49Yo in reading,3Syo in math and25Yo in science. These
were from 2018-2019 school year. Overall the school is performing beffer than the state
average. But if I am being honest these are not impressive scores. Realistically it states
that a majority of students are retaining less than half of the information that is being
taught.
2. Please describe the student make-up of the school including gender, ethnicity,
students with disabilities, ELL students , and any other attributes that are more
important to note you found.

Since this was a virtual class I was only able to see the students in the class I was
observing. I did not observe any ELL students or students with disabilities. However
there is not much information that you can receive in the virtual world. There are more
females than males in the class. Hair texture and color ranged from blonde to brunette,
long too short, straight to curly hair. Ethnicity is an impossible question to answer just by
sight and I practice not assuming a person's ethnicity. I am an anthropologist and
historian and have learned and understood the complexity of ethnicity. No such
assumptions should ever be made by what you see. That is a form of physical profiling.
However, schooldigger.com did have percentages based on race. Roughly 59o/o of the
students identiff as white, about 2l%oidentiff as hispanic, about 10% identified as
African Americans, about 8% identified as two or more races, 3o/o identifred as Asian and
less than l% identified as a Pacific Islander orAmerican Indian.

3. Explain the school's mission/vision statements, motto, and mascot

This is directly from the schools website, "Our vision is to educate, inspire, and equip all
students to achieve their full potential by being college and career ready by exit. Our
mission is to create a partnership between school, home, and communlty, fostering a
positive, nurturing environment in which individuals can reach their maximum potential
educationally, emotionally, and socially."
I do believe the school accomplishes this mission. From what I witnessed the teacher was
very nurturing towards her students. Even when I conducted the interview you could hear
how much she wants her children to succeed. However, I also do feel that the district sets
its students to fail. She explained to me that no students are held back. I am not sure if
that is a school policy or a disffict one. But I will say that forcing a student to continue to
the next grade while failing to understand the elements of the previous, will only create
frustration for the future. The likely hood of that student being successfully in my opinion
would be extremely low. She also informed me that there is no summer school for
elementary students. Maybe incorporating summer school for those who are struggling
will prepare them for the next grade. You cannot make a student career ready of college
ready if you are forcing them through the grades. By the time the student reaches either
they will realize that there is foundation missing. All this school is doing is not only
prolonging the inevitable but making it extremely difficult to turn back to understand
what was missed.
4. Examine school traditions, achievements and awardsl community recognition or
community partnersl extracurricular activities/clubs and athletics. Look for the
document sources of community pride and sense of identity through ceremonies,
assemblies, trophies, and artifacts.

Not applicable, since I was not able to go into the school I as unable to note any clubs,
extracurricular activities, or athletics. There was also nothing on the website that
determined these things. Awards and achievements are also not noted on the website. I
did see an essay contest for the sfudents. The winners of this essay get a one on one
session with a NASA employee and they are able to visit the Johnson NASA space center.
So this shows interaction with the community.

5. Briefly describe three other pieces of information that can be found on your
assigned school's website.

You are able to communicate to the nurse, librarian, and counselor through the website. I
found it interesting that every administrator had their own avatar that the kids could click
and it would connect them to the administrator they desire to speak to. I do not know if
this was used on the regular or if it was used due to the virtual classroom. But I
appreciated the creativity used in this. You can find the librarians avatar in the library full
of books and resources. You could find the nurse avatar in the clinic, and you can find the
counselor avatar in what I assumed was her offrce.

Culture of the Clossroom: Each clossroom hos its own culture ond woy of life.

1. What are the teacher's expectations for learning and success?

The teacher I observed expected every student to do their best in class. She expected
participation and she expected that assignments be done and handed in on time.

2. Evaluate the level of student participation in the class. Who participates? Who
does not?

My teacher gave out these hot shots that made students want to participate in class. The
same three students constantly raised their hands but she had a technique called wheel of
names where names would be picked at random. Once a name pops up that student was
required to answer and if they could not they would pick on another student to help them
find the answer. I thought this was avery clever way to keep multiple kids participating
in class.
3. Evaluate the interactions between teachers and students, rapportr cohesiveness,
distribution of power, teacher personality.

The teacher has a majority of control in the classroom. When I was observing, the class
revolved around going over math homework. The teacher would go over one problem
and then asked a student to pick the next question and ask another sfudent to answer the
question. Overall if I had to put the spread of power into percentages I would say the
teacher had70o/o and the students had30%. The teacher has a very bubbly personality
which the students seem to respond too well. She is very kind in how she speaks.

4. Observes student-to-student interactions, inside and outside of the class. Are they
using any chat features to communicate with each other?

Since this was a virtual classroom the only student-to-student interaction I witnessed was
in the google chat. And nonnally the chat was used to tell another student to mute their
computers.

Assignment 2: Observation

1. What are your first impressions of the virtual classroom enyironment? Is it warm,
inviting, organized, etc? Describe the virtual environment in detail.

I am not a fan of the virtual classroom. Students are able to choose whether or not they
want their cameftN on. And although the teacher will request for the cameras to be on
some students will not turn them on. You have to go offof good faith that the student is
sitting behind that screen. I do not think a virhral world can be warm, inviting, or
organized. I believe that the students have too many distractions in the home. I watched a
student play video games while the teacher was instructing. I will say though that the
teacher I observed did her best to make the environment as wann and inviting as she
could.

2. Please describe the student make-up of the class, including gender, ethnicity, ELL,
students with physical challenges and any other apparent attributes that are
important note.

The class on average was about 14 students. There were more females than males. I did
not see any ELL students or students with physical challenges. As for the ethnicity I
provide the same response provided in assignment I question2-
3. Are their posted class rules or course expectations? If rules/expectations are
posted write them exactly as they appear.

I am sure this is a concept that is used in a physical classroom. But there were no class
rules or course expectations posted.

4. Does the teacher enforce these posted rules/expectations? What rewards or

consequences are used for compliance or noncompliance?

Not applicable.

5. What is the posted daily/weekly schedule for different subjects or periods?

I only witnessed this teacher teach math. She was only teaching for 90 minutes a day and
expressed to me that math is the most important subject for third graders. That is why she
spends the few minutes she has teaching focusing on that.

6. Do you see evidence of the schools mission/vision statements in the virtual

environment?

I do of the schools mission in the virtual environment. Outside of education

see evidence
during my sessions my teacher was also teaching the kids social skills. To respect while
other students speak and when the teachers speak.

Assignment 3: Classroom Layout

(INSERT SCREEN SHOT) Due to the time I participated in the virtual classroom I was
unable to provide a picture of the layout without taking a picture of the students as well.

1. Describe the workflow of the online environment. Is the space and time used
efficiently?

My teacher only taught for 90 minutes a day and she did an excellent job in using the
time effrciently. There was constant communication that went back and forth between the
students and teacher. Everything from daily jokes to going over homework. The kids
were active and engaged for the most part.
2. In your opinion, how can the virtual arrangement of the room be improved?

The teachers need to be given more time. I do not understand how my teacher was
expected to teach eight subject in 90 minute sessions.

Assignment 4 : Instruction

1. Is instruction delivered in small groups, centers, while groups, individually?

Instruction is delivered to the class as a whole.

2. Describe your cooperating teacher's teaching style?

Describing her teaching style is difficult to answer. Only because as I have stated I only
observed her teaching math. To be exact I watched her teach multiplication. Math is all
about mathematical law, there is no interpretation it or providing different perspective. It
is as it is. I would say her philosophy is possibly essentialism. The way that she teaches
and expresses herself in the class is about knowing the basics. Everything else will come
later on.

3. How does the teacher incorporate the sensor(y modalities (learning stytes)

This teacher used a visual learning technique. Which worked well with her limited ability.
She would walk the students through steps to solve the problems. And used videos to
present her point. For example she used a video to teach the kids about products not just
in multiplication but in goods and services.

4. Do the students seem engaged in the lesson presented?

A majority of the students do seem engaged. But there were those students whose eyes
were elsewhere. But I believe the reason this was an issue was due to the fact that the
students were home. It is very easy to be distracted when you are home. It is also very
easy to ignore a teacher through a screen compared to in person.

5. Are there any students isolated or not presenUparticipating in the class?

I am not sure how to answer this question. I will say that there were sfudents who had
their cameras ofi so those students I would consider were isolated. There really was no
telling whether students with their cameras offwhere actually focused on the lesson.
6. How does the teacher handle absence from the class?

The teacher took attendance every morning but did not do anything specific for those
who did not show up.

7. How does the teacher handle transitions from subject to subject or acfivity to
activity? Are the transitions eflicient?

Transitions are made with a l0 minute break.

8. List ways the teacher uses *attention getting" commands, words phrases, signals,
etc. Are they effective?

To acquire the student's attention she had these hotshots that she would give out. The
three students with the most hotshots would be excused from homework. The moment
she said'\vho wants hotshots" students would immediately place all of their attention on
to her.

9. What specific behavior issues does the teacher have to deal with? How does the
teacher handle the behavior issues? Be specific.

There was a moment where the sfudents continued to communicate with each other in the
chat during instruction. The teacher asked the students to politely stop. When they did not
she turned the chat off. She was still very kind when she asked them to stop, and
although not every student responded to her request she most certainly got their attention
once she turned offthe chat. She was able to enforce her rules in a sweet bubbly
understanding way that I do believe made the students aware of what they did wrong
without making them feel bad about it.My biggest fear is making a student cry so I will
definitely use this technique when students are not listening to me.

10. Are there any policies or procedures that help or hinder instructional time?
Please explain them and hoe they help or hinder instructional time.

Respecting while other students speak is a policy that helped instructional time. With the
limited time you would want limited intemrption. This created an efficient environment.
Where work flowed what seemed effortlessly.
Assignment 5: Observotion

1. What drove you to this student?

When class starts my observing teacher would start the class with a joke or a story and
allow the students to freely speak for several minutes. On the second day of class this
student showed a portrait she painted. It was impressive for an eight year old and her
painting caught my affention.

2. Explain what the student did during the observation.

I think it is safe to assume that this student is one of the bright ones. She was constantly
participating in class.

3. Summarize the lesson given and the students'responses to the lesson.

Since I only observed an hour a day I was only present during the math classes. The
teacher would teach the class by going over the homework. The teacher would ask a
student to choose between two questions. And she would ask the class what they believed
the answer was. The student I observed was one of the students who raised her hand. She
was selected to answer the question. The teacher was teaching multiplication and asked
what was the term for a multiplication answer. To which the student responded
'oproduct". Aresponse I was surprised she knew because I did not remember that the
answer to a multiplication problem was called product.

4. Make sure to documentALL behavior in relationship to what was being presented

by the classroom teacher.

The student did not once shut offher camera during class so I could see that she was
actively listening and participating. She would tell different jokes in the beginning of
class. She was a vibrant little girl that I knew I would enjoy having in my class.

5. Please describe what you discovered about the sfudents learning styles,
involvement in class, and his/her educational needs.

I stated earlier that this is a bright student. Part of me has reason to believe that this may
be a gifted student. Not only due to her want ofparticipation. But when the students were
required to answer a question on their own and to present the work on a white board she
was always the first to show her work and it was always correct.
Assignment 6: Cooperating Teocher Interview

1. What was the primary reason you become a teacher?

"Always wanted to be a teacher."

2. What are the main challenges you face as a teacher?

Society's disrespect of teachers changes the kids view of teachers. Kids lose respect for
teachers if society does not have it. Society has also placed the responsibility of raising
children on the teachers.

3. What is the best part of being a teacher?

The kids are the best part, having fun with them and watching them learn.

4. How do you determine where students sit in class?

At the beginning of the year students pick their seats. As time passes the teacher will
move them once she determines who works well together.

5. How do you select member's of any flexible groups?

She uses map scores to determine grouping.

6. How often do you interact with parents in person? What are the main reason for
interactions with parents?

Ifyou develop a great relationship with the parents, that would make the parents happy
with the teacheq the student happy with the teacher, and finally the administration will be
happy with the teacher. She uses remind messaging platform as a form of
communication. Class Dojo is another way teachers keep text communication with
parents.

7. How much grading do you complete on a daily/weekly basis?

My teacher dislikes grading because it takes up too much time. She is very lenient with
writing and she tends to give students a second chance to redo the work. But her response
to this question was "hours and hours".
8. How long does it take to prepare lessons for his day/week?

Her immediate response was once again "hours and hours." She tends to have a 60 hour
work week. Teachers are given nothing to work with, they need to create everything from
scratch. Which does provide teachers with a freedom to teaching. I asked her if she
recycles material. She said that she does but all of her material is in the classroom and did
not work with the current virtual situation.

9. What procedures or strategies do you use to maximize instructional time?

She likes to create an environment where students can relax and learn. She does not want
her students stress when it comes to the assignments but instead wants to create a fun
learning environment. So to maximize the time she focuses on the crucial parts of the
lesson. Any key terms, paffens, or anything that helps the student grasp information
faster.

10. What positive reinforcements have you used successfully? What behavioral
consequences seem most effective with this age group?

Young kids tend to want to please the adults in their life so third grade kids want to please
their teacher. She rewards good behavior which then makes the other kids want to do well
as well. She gives out tickets during class for different reasons and if a child has 10
tickets by the end of the week they participate in Friday fun day.

11. How are specialist teachers involved in your instructional planning and process?

She does not include specialist teacher in her instructional planning.

12. How often are you evaluated, and what measurement tool is used by the
administrafion for determining your teaching performance?

NEPF Nevada Education Performance Frame Work is how teachers are evaluated. There
is one formal evaluation per year that starts with a pre-observation, then a conference,
and finally the post-observation. The principle also drops by around four times ayear,

13. What consequences are there if your evaluation is not favorable?

She has not experienced a not favorable evaluation and does not know any teacher who
has.
14. What surprised you most about teaching as a profession?

What surprised her the most is how this is an all consuming job. Contrary to what most of
us believe school hours are not the only times teacher work. There are parent teacher
conferences, lesson plans, and grading. This job is 2417 andthat includes the summer.

15.What drives their lesson plans? What standards do teachers use during lesson
planning?

There is a standard of teaching known as the pacing guides. Lessons are based on the
average students skill sets. This can help and hinder students. The gifted students will get
bored and the ones who fall behind become frustrated. There are multiple ways to teach a
lesson. The more flexibility that is added the more likely a higher percentage of
understanding is achieved.

16. If they are teaching at a Nevada Charter school, are there lessons prescribed
from core standards or from other resources?

Not applicable.

17. How do you accommodate ELL, GATE, General Ed and Special Education
students?

The first thing I asked was what each stood for. ELL is English language learners and
GATE is the gifted and talented education. My teacher informed me that there is no
accommodating the difference in learning online. All students meet with the cooperating
teacher in the morning and afterwards special education students meet with those teachers
and GAIE students meet with their teachers for 50 minutes a day after class three days a
week.

Assignment 7 Summary: Thoroughly summarize and reflect upon your entire 10

hour field obserryation. What did you obsere, Iearn, realir:e about teachers,
students, instruction, the school environment? How has this observation better
prepared you to understand the teaching profession? How does the observation
relate to the text information and class activities? What specific ideas on teaching
will you remember to include in your classroom?

Teachers have a lot on their plate. As an outsider I always thought teachers had it easy.
They worked an 8 to 3 Monday thru Friday, had all major holidays ofi had summer off.
It seemed like such a great gig. However, this is not true. Grading and creating lesson
plans are huge part of teaching and it takes up the most time. When I had to do a lesson
plan for this class that took an entire day and it was on one subject. I can only imagine
how much real time lesson plans take. My teacher told me that she never gets time off.
Every moment can be a lesson and she also stated how important it is to use everyday life
to teach in the classroom. I learned that children are not as terriffing as I thought they
were. The children were very kind and respectful. Ajoy to be with. I understand what is
expected of me now, inside and outside of the class room. Knowing the amount of work
and time that goes into a lesson plan and how quickly that can change while teaching
based on how the students respond was exffemely important for me to learn now. I
understand that teachers need to be flexible and need to understand how to adapt with
any situation. Teacher need to know how to think on their feet as well. The one thing I
will take from this experience is how to be flexible. I will also include a reward method.
This kept the students engaged and participating. The idea of the reward made students
want to learn. Overall this was a positive experience and gave me an insight of what to
expect when I become a teacher.
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COOPERATING TEACHER INFORMATION . CSN FIELD OBSERVATIONS. VIRTUAL

Dear Cooperating Teacher,

Thank you for assisting in the preparation of a new generation of Nevada teachers. Our
education majors are required to complete 10 field observation hours in:
EDU 20-l- lntroduction to F-\e.-.errr<-..r..t Education

This class is where many of our students actually make the decision whether they will continue
further study of the profession. We appreciate you joining us in providing these students with a
wonderful first experience in the virtual classroom. lf at all possible, please utilize the student to
assist you in supervised classroom instructional activities if you deem them ready.

We are hopefulthat the information we have enclosed with this letter, which has been approved
by the Nevada College Consortium, will help you with a clear sense of how this field experience
works.

When the student has completed hiVher required 10 obseruation hours, please complete and
sign the "FIELD OBSERVATION TIME LOG" and "FIELD OBSERVATION STUDENT
EVALUATION" (along with the student). Then, return these two pages to the student who will
submit them to his/her professor.

For your convenience, the student has provided you with CSN contact information below.
Please contact the GSN instructor if there are any questions or concerns.

Also, before a final grade for EDU X. Ot can be assigned, the CSN professor MUST receive
your official email verification that the student successfully completed the 10 hour observation.
Please also "cc" the student on this email. The student WLL NOT receive afinal grade in the
course untilthe email is received ftom you.

CSN Course # & name: EDU.1O i lntroctuction to t-\<rne-r+ciry Education

CSN Professor: 5---x:.1 -$ ' ,crq<)
CSN Professor's phone : ,f q 95' 34l: t.
- 3--1 2
csN Professor'semail: Ss'd''r 6'qyj(? (-'''>o ('oJ
'-Dt>'r"r'r rr<o1s\ )
Student's full name: Cv"rie{' fe+ Ce-1 - ye \Ci\c.r

Student's email: ctzL}3 r 2Q't .rri\ Cc'-r'

Should you have any concerns or questions about this process, please feel free to contact the
instructor directly, or the CSN Education Department at: (7O2') 65144OO.

Alternative Field Observation Packet @ CSN Ed Departsnent 2020 I

 FIELD OBSEBVATION STUDENT EVALUATION - completed by Cooperating CCSD teacher

Please complete the followrng evaluation using the performance lndicator Scores below (with the
student) once the total observation hours are met. Your constructive comments are extremely valuable to
the student. Retum this page to the student along with their Time Log lo be submitted to the instructor
with the completed Field Observation packet.

Enter the appropriate "Performance lndicator Score" in the spaces below

(4)-exemplary (3)=consistent level (2)=not consistent (1)=lacking

l*
I erofessional appearance, adherence to CCSD dress code

L Reliability, puncluality

v* Communicates effectively with teachers and staff

!t_ Demonstrates manners, graciousness

4_ Reflects upon observations using critical thinking

q_ Demonstrates enthusiasm and curiosity toward the protession

u_ Models respectful behavior with students

_L Uses appropriate language

r
lrl Exhibits pre-service educalor success indicators

Comments

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Cooperating Teacher's Signature: a