CSN Education Department - Alternative Field Observation Activities Packet

Greetings Future Educator,

One of the most rewarding aspects of EDU 201, 202, or 203 is the opportunity you will have to
observe in a school classroom where students are actively engaged in learning. Each of these
three CSN courses require students to complete a 10 hour "Field Observation" in a Clark
County public school. If CDC Guidelines for Covid-19 prevent you from physically attending a
school campus during the current semester, this packet will offer the alternative experiences
required to satisfy your “Field Observation” requirements for this class virtually.

If possible to pair you with a cooperating CCSD teacher, your placement will be processed by
CSN’s observation coordinator, and you will receive details regarding your assigned school from
your CSN professor. Only then, will you contact the school and meet virtually with your assigned
CCSD “cooperating teacher”. 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 assignments that you must
complete in order to pass this class.

Your Name: Elisabeth Whitefield

CSN Course: EDU 201

Professor: Susan Bridges

Professor’s email: Susan.Bridges@csn.edu  

CCSD School: John Dooley ES

Cooperating Teacher: Shanna Turner 1st grade

DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION FIELD EXPERIENCE GUIDELINES
Standards of Conduct
You are student representatives of the CSN Education Department and the teaching profession.
Candidates are expected to maintain high standards of personal and professional ethics.

Attendance and Punctuality

Regular attendance and punctuality are mandatory. Once you determine a schedule with your
cooperating teacher, this becomes an agreement in which you are expected to adhere to. You
are expected to login and log-off to virtual meetings at the scheduled time. In case of illness or
emergency that would prevent you from joining a scheduled class virtually, you must contact the
cooperating teacher a minimum of 3 days in advance to let them know you will not be in
attendance on that day.

Relationships
You should exercise respectful discretion when voicing your personal views. It is important that
your demeanor and opinions remain confidential. Under no circumstances can information
about any students be released to, or discussed with, any unauthorized person. It is forbidden to
have any contact with students outside of the classroom you are assigned. This restriction
includes CSN students contacting CCSD students in person, through any electronic means, or
through the use of social media.

Dress Code
CSN Department of Education wants you to be a success. Therefore, we have adopted the
CCSD dress code for students fulfilling their observation requirement in the assigned school
district. Appearance creates credibility; make a good first impression by dressing professionally,
even when meeting virtually.

Required Acceptable Attire: Males:

• Shirts with collars
• Ties (optional) with button down shirts
• Khakis, trousers, slacks; belts if pants have loops, (no sagging, rips or tears)
• Simple jewelry
• Shoes and socks that cover the toes and heels
Required Acceptable Attire: Females:
• Shirts or blouses that cover the shoulders & waist; no see-through or mesh
• Sweaters worn over shirt
• Pants, pantsuits, khakis, trousers, slacks (no sagging, rips or tears)
• Jumpers, dresses, skirts (in length from 2" above the knee to the ankle)
• Shoes and socks that cover the toes and heels
• Leggings worn under dresses/skirts/jumpers
• Simple jewelry or none
• Little (daytime) make-up
Not Acceptable Attire: jeans, shorts, tank tops, halter tops, muscle T-shirts, tight fitting
clothing, warm-ups, sandals, flip flops, stilettos; no cleavage showing, no sagging or frayed
hems; no head covering except for religious reasons, such as a yarmulke or turban-like. No
nontraditional hair colors/styles. Undergarments and tattoos should be covered. Remove facial
jewelry. *School principal/supervisor has the sole discretion on questionable clothing or
appearance that distracts from student learning.

Classroom Conduct: At all times, the cooperating teacher maintains legal responsibility for
pupils in his or her classroom. You should never assume that responsibility and be left
unsupervised with children. You should not discipline students. You are an observer, who
should take notes to discuss during your next education class meeting, or to record in your Field
Observation packet.

Professional Conduct:
Never speak to staff or students in an abusive manner.
Never touch or be alone with a student for any reason.
Never give a student food, drink, or other items without the teacher’s permission.
Never take photos/video of students or staff without written permission from the principal.
Never make or accept calls/text using any communication device while at the school.

CCSD WAIVERS
Review the terms of the CCSD Waiver Forms provided by your instructor.
“Student Statement of Responsibility” (Exhibit B)
“Student Confidentiality Statement” (Exhibit C)

These 2 waiver documents MUST be agreed to in order to secure your observation placement.
While submitting your Field Observation Request, you will be prompted to check that you have
read the waivers and that you agree to the terms. Completion of the CSN Field Observation is a
PASS/FAIL component of the course.

ONCE YOU ARE ASSIGNED A COOPERATING TEACHER WHO IS DISTANCE LEARNING

1. Pre-plan for initial contact with the school you are assigned and make sure that all interaction
with CCSD employees and students is respectful, courteous, and professional. You are a
representative of this class and the college. CCSD is allowing you to observe their teachers to
further your understanding of the teaching profession. It is imperative that your actions reflect a
willingness to learn and are reflective of a future professional educator. The school will select a
teacher for you to observe and provide you with their contact information.

2. The first half of your field observation/experience will be centered around learning
background information about the school you were assigned and focusing on the general and
unique characteristics of its culture. You will be looking at and reflecting upon things that are
going on in the virtual classroom at the school level that you were assigned. You are simply
observing during this time. Your cooperating teacher may give you guidance on how your
experience can be expanded beyond simple observations if he/she feels comfortable with your
professionalism and skills.
3. Contact your Cooperating Teacher to introduce yourself. Since this is your first contact, ask
the teacher for the necessary information to access their virtual classroom, and when the live
sessions occur that they would prefer you to join. Share this “Field Observation Activities
Packet”, with your cooperating teacher as well as the last 3 pages which contain the
“Cooperating Teacher Information”, the “Time Log” and the “Field Observation Student
Evaluation”. Let the teacher know that you will be taking notes during the observation for your
packet assignments, that you will be asking them to verify your hours of attendance, and
evaluate your participation once the total observation hours are complete.

4. When logging in with your cooperating teacher and their students during a virtual meeting, it
is recommended that you keep both your microphone and video camera OFF during the
observation, unless the cooperating teacher directs you to speak or be seen while observing. In
that case, make sure your home workspace is void of background distractions, or anything in
view that may be considered inappropriate for students to see. Your online attire should be the
same as if you were visiting the school in person. Employ the use of typical lighting and image
framing to make the most of your broadcast. The typical “Rule of Thirds” works well, whereby
the camera height is adjusted so that your eyes are positioned in the top third of the window.
Front lit subjects look better on screen than being backlit by a window or artificial light.

THE FIELD OBSERVATION PACKET ASSIGNMENT DIRECTIONS

Read through all the assignments and take notes during your observation visits. You will gather
information on more than one assignment during an observation. Then, using your notes
answer the questions for each assignment.

• All assignments must be word processed. Your detailed responses to assignment questions
must demonstrate careful analysis of the questions and the observation information.

• Questions and their responses must include thorough explanations and examples from the
classroom observation. All responses must be written as complete sentences.

Include the question number, along with your response as a short essay response as in this
sample below:

Assignment #2 - Question 1: What is your first impression of the classroom

environment?
Response: “The classroom environment is friendly and welcoming to the students and
seems a fun place to learn. The classroom is decorated with the students’ work,
interesting posters and the teacher shows respect to the students.”

When it is time to submit the Field Observation Packet for grading, these items must be
included:
 • The cover page of the Field Observation Packet

• All observation assignments

• Time Log verifying hours spent within virtual meetings

• The Cooperating Teacher Evaluation

THE FIELD OBSERVATION ASSIGNMENTS: Shanna Turner. John Dooley Elementary School
first-grade teacher.

ASSIGNMENT #1 (Culture): Using the questions below, carefully observe and evaluate the
culture of the school. School culture refers to the way teachers and other staff members work
together and the set of beliefs, values, and assumptions they share. A positive school climate
and school culture promote students' ability to learn. Remember you are evaluating the school
for its educational culture, place of learning, sense of safety, invitation for learning, promotion of
self-actualization, development of values and socialization. Use online resources such as your
assigned school’s CCSD webpage, http://nevadareportcard.nv.gov/di/,
https://www.publicschoolreview.com, and https://www.greatschools.org/nevada/las-vegas/ to
answer the following questions.

Physical Characteristics: Look at a picture(s) of the school to determine atmosphere, comfort,

and feelings the school creates for students in the educational setting.

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

trees, parking lot, crosswalks, gates, signs and symbols. Describe in detail.
a. Looking at the school from Google Maps, I first thing that I notice is that
everything looks very clean. There is no trash on the curb or in the parking
lot, the grass looks trimmed and neat, and the playground looks well
maintained. It appears that there is some nice floral artwork on the side of the
building as well as two large fields that are fenced in with a chain link fence.
One of the fields is a baseball diamond right next door to the school that
looks like it could be used for a school-sponsored baseball team or friendly
neighborhood games. There are a few speed limit signs that indicate that this
area is a school zone as well as a fenced in bicycle parking area for students
to ride to and from school and have a safe place to leave their bikes. Overall
the school looks very clean and safe for students to spend time outdoors and
enjoy themselves.

2. Next, (if available) study the interior of the school: halls, floor coverings, lighting,
doors, windows, hall colors and decorations and entrance security. Explain in detail.
 a. Due to COVID restrictions, I was unable to visit the school in person and I
was unable to find photos online of the school’s interior. Nb

Culture of the School: Read, listen 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, student/teacher ratio etc.
- According to publicschoolreview.com, JD Elementary School has roughly 450
students enrolled per year and they have a proficiency rating of 48% in math
and 50% in reading/language, both of which are above the Nevada State
average. While I was in the online class, there were 22 students to the one
teacher. The website states that their normal ratio of students and teachers is
16:1. Overall I believed that the teacher I got to work with was very capable of
handling the students and communicating with her coworkers.

2: Please describe the student make-up of the school, including gender, ethnicity,
students with disabilities, ELL students, and any other attributes that are important to
note you found.
- In the class, I observed that there was a white majority of students and none
of them had any visible disabilities that I was aware of. There were about
three minority students that I had the opportunity to meet in that class. I was
not aware of any ELL students. Again, according to publicschoolreview.com,
the school’s population of minority students is lower than the Nevada
average.

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

- The motto of JD Elementary School is, “We rattle the educational world.” This
is a reference to their mascot of the diamondback rattlesnake and their
educational achievements. Their mission statement is, “To provide a positive
learning environment and to build a solid educational foundation in all
academic and social areas for each individual student.” There is no available
information online that explains what the significance of the diamondback
rattlesnake is to their school. My best guess it that it was chosen because it is
a common desert animal and one that can be intimidating.

4. Examine school traditions, achievements and awards; community recognition or

community partners; extracurricular activities/clubs and athletics. Look for and
document sources of community pride and sense of identity through ceremonies,
assemblies, trophies, and artifacts.
- This school is ranked as the 142nd elementary school out of 388 total
elementary schools in Clark County (schooldigger.com) They were awarded
the Blue-Ribbon School award in 2014. This award is given to schools
recognized for excellent academic achievement or those recognized for
 closing achievement gaps among different subgroups of students. On the
school’s website, they are advertising a canned food drive that the students
and staff can participate in in order to bring up their community and help
those in need.

5. Briefly describe three other pieces of information that can be found on your assigned
school’s website.
- John Dooley ES has enabled every one of their students to get free school-
provided breakfast and lunch since 2017, and during the COVID pandemic
they are still giving out free meals for the students during the week and
providing socially-distanced pickups so students are able to eat. They also
have an audiobook program available on their website so that students have
access to books to read for the Accelerated Reader program. Another thing
that the school has added to their website is daily updates on their morning
announcements. Every weekday, the principal uploads a video onto the
website for students, parents, and teachers to access in order to stay
updated on school events.
- https://sites.google.com/nv.ccsd.net/johndooleyelementary

Culture of the Classroom: Each classroom has its own culture and way of life.

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

a. Mrs. Turner expects each student to participate in class and put in effort in
order to succeed in her class. She encourages students to answer questions
and to share their work so that they can receive feedback in order to grow.
She will help out students in small groups to ensure that each of them has a
grasp on the material.

2. Evaluate the level of student participation in the class. Who participates? Who does
not?
a. Most of the students do participate in the class. There were only a few
students that I noticed did not want to participate by answering problems or
answering questions. Many of these were because the students were sleepy
or having trouble focusing while in their home. Mrs. Turner would attempt to
ask them about their thoughts and opinions in order to get them involved in
the class and to keep them focused.

3. Evaluate the interactions between teacher and students, rapport, cohesiveness,

distribution of power, teacher personality.
a. After one class, I could tell that this group has a very deep respect for Mrs.
Turner and were almost always listening to her instructions without issue.
She is a very compassionate and gentle teacher, and the students absolutely
adore her and want to share their thoughts with her. It’s easy to tell that even
 with an online learning environment, these students deeply admire her as
their teacher and feel comfortable in her class.

4. Observe student-to-student interactions, inside and outside of the class. Are they
using any chat features to communicate with each other?
a. There is no chat feature that the students use to communicate. Instead they
will raise their hand to comment on their peer’s statements. There are a few
students that have their best friends in that class and are excited to be in the
same small groups or to have their virtual lunches together. I did not witness
any tension between the students in the class and they all seemed very
happy to share with each other.

ASSIGNMENT #2 (Observations)

1: What are your first impressions of the virtual classroom environment? Is it warm,
inviting, organized, etc? Describe the virtual environment in detail.
In the virtual classroom, the students and teachers meet up using Google Meets in order
to attend class. In this meet, each student was expected to be on time and attend for the
full class time. The students would have their cameras on to ensure that they were
paying attention and that they were able to interact with the class when they needed to.
Most students were sat at a table with headphones on so they could be present in the
meeting with little interruption.

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
to note.
In the class, I observed that there was a white majority of students and none of them had
any visible disabilities that I was aware of. There were about three minority students that
I had the opportunity to meet in that class. I was not aware of any ELL students.

3: Are their posted class rules or course expectations? If rules/expectations are posted
write them exactly as they appear.
The rules are not posted in the Google meet where I was observing. Instead they were
posted on the Canvas class which Ms. Turner did show me briefly after class one day,
but I did not have access to it.

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

consequences are used for compliance or noncompliance?
Ms. Teacher enforced rules about being respectful, having videos turned on, raising your
hand when asking to speak, staying muted when not speaking, and being attentive.
When there were behavioral issues, which were few and far between, she would give
them a gentle reminder about the rules and every time I witnessed this, each student
would listen to her and do what they were supposed to do.
 5: What is the posted daily/weekly schedule for different subjects or periods?
Each weekday the students met in the Google Meet for two and a half hours for their
daily reading, writing and math lessons. Afterwards, they would break into smaller
groups that would individually meet with Mrs. Turner in order to go into more depth and
make sure each student was understanding the material. Fridays did not have the
individual group meetings and each day the students would access a link on their
Canvas to attend their other subjects, such as PE and art.

6: Do you see evidence of the school’s mission/vision statements in the virtual

environment?
In the online classroom, I did not see any evidence of the mission statement of the
school available other than during the morning announcement video that was played for
the class at the beginning of the day.

ASSIGNMENT #3 (Classroom Layout): Take screenshots of the learning management system

used by the teacher (Canvas, Google Classroom, Seesaw etc..)
 1: Describe the workflow of the online environment. Is the space and time used
efficiently?
In the classroom, the teacher can display her screen during lessons so that students
have a visual for their lessons and can be more involved. In this screenshot, the
students were brainstorming for their weekly writing assignment. Each student was
supposed to write out their own circle map for ideas about which Thanksgiving food was
their favorite and why. The words listed out were Mrs. Turner helping students to spell
words and phrases they needed help with. I do think that the teacher did a great job in
making sure that the students were able to use their meet to learn as much as possible
each day and were able to do it in an effective way.

2: In your opinion, how can the virtual arrangement of the room be improved?
In my opinion, the most difficult things I have observed in the virtual classroom are
maintaining student interest and making sure that they do not talk over each other. The
teacher being an effective classroom leader makes it so much easier when the students
do interrupt each other. Mrs. Turner’s approach of gently reminding students about the
rules is amazingly effective with the young students because they have a lot of respect
for her. When the students are having trouble focusing, she will often switch gears and
try to find a more hands-on activity to do so that the students can participate.

ASSIGNMENT #4 (Instruction): Observe any instructional time with your assigned Cooperative
Teacher, and record your observations when presented with the questions below:

1: Is instruction delivered in small groups, centers, whole groups, individually?

Classroom instruction is initially delivered in whole groups, then later gone over again in
smaller groups of students.

2: Describe your cooperating teacher’s teaching style.

3: How does the teacher incorporate the sensory modalities (learning styles)? Give
examples.
Mrs. Turner attempts to engage students in learning by presenting the lessons in a
visual manner as well as having students try things on their own. For example, when
students are learning math, she goes over a few problems on her shared screen, then
has students practice problems on individual whiteboards that they have at home. The
students do the math problems on the whiteboards then show them to the camera so
Mrs. Turner can evaluate their work.

4: Do the students seem engaged in the lesson(s) presented? Please explain.

5: Are there any students isolated or not present/participating in the class? Explain?
I have only noticed a few students who are less likely to speak and answer questions in
class unless they are called upon. To handle this, Mrs. Turner will try to ask them about
 their opinions or ideas on the topic at hand to help them participate. There are also small
group sessions that students attend where they can be more involved.

6: How does the teacher handle absences from the class?

She takes attendance at the beginning of the day where she acknowledges those that
aren’t attending the virtual meeting and if they come in later, she will greet them and
continue on with the lesson.

7: How does the teacher handle transitions from subject to subject or activity to activity?
Are the transitions efficient?
In order to transition between subjects, Mrs. Turner will give the class a 5-10 minute
break that she calls a “brain break” to allow students to take a mental break from
learning and prepare to go to the next subject. She will have a timer set up on her
screen so that the students can see how much time they have left and once that timer
runs out the students understand than they need to be ready to move on. There are very
few issues with this method because that ending of the timer gives the students a visual
representation that their break is over, and they know it’s time for the next subject.

8: List ways the teacher uses “attention getting” commands, word phrases, signals, etc.
Are they effective?

9: What specific behavior issues does the teacher have to deal with? How does the
teacher handle the behavior issues? Be specific.
The most common behavior issue that the teacher must handle in the virtual class is
students not raising their hands to speak and interrupting others. She is great at giving
them a gentle reminder that it is important for them to respect their peers and the
students don’t disobey her often when this reminder happens. If the student is oblivious
to her correcting the behavior or they do not notice that they’re unmuted and it has
become a distraction, she has the ability to mute the student in the online meet.

10: Are there any policies or procedures that help or hinder instructional time? Please
explain them and how they help or hinder instructional time.
I had not noticed any procedures that hinder instructional time during my observations. I
did notice that Mrs. Turner was very efficient at running her classroom, and although the
students had not gotten to meet her in person due to COVID, she is well respected and
adored by her students. I am a big fan of her use of “brain breaks” in class because they
do help the students in line when moving on to the next activity.

ASSIGNMENT #5 (Observing a student): Discretely observe one student in your assigned

classroom during direct instruction.
 1: What drove you to choose this student?
I chose this student because they stood out to me as a smart child and one who was
excited about sharing his knowledge. He reminded me of myself when I was in
elementary school.

2: Explain what the student did during the observation.

This student was overly excited to share his reasons and had a little trouble with
interjecting when others were talking in order to share information that they felt was
relevant to the conversation.

3. Summarize the lesson given and the student’s responses to the lesson.
I observed this student during a writing lesson. The class was going over their opinion
pieces for the week in which they wrote about which branch of the military they liked best
and why they chose that one. This student has chosen to write about the coast guard
because their dad had been part of it. This student kept interrupting the teacher and the
other students to share about what they knew about the military.

4. Make sure to document ALL behavior in relationship to what was being presented by
the classroom teacher.
This student interrupted a fellow classmate to explain about a military vehicle they were
discussing. The teacher had to remind them to stay muted unless called on.
During short breaks, this student was excited about cheering on his pick in the timer race
that the teacher had set up to allow students to prepare to move on to the next lesson
and to get some energy out.

5. Please describe what you discovered about the student’s learning styles, involvement
in class, and his/her educational needs.
I noticed that this student has a more collaborative learning style and I believe that they
might be a good leader in the future, because they tend to direct conversation and invite
other students to share their work. I do think that they might need more educational
stimulation in order to be a more involved and focused student, since it appears that they
are slightly ahead of their peers.

ASSIGNMENT #6 (Cooperating Teacher Interview): Arrange for a convenient time to

interview your cooperating teacher either on the phone or by video conference. Ask the
questions below. Include any school document, handouts, etc. the teacher provides.

1: What was the primary reason you became a teacher? I had an office job before I
started teaching. It was so boring! I have always wanted to be a teacher, so I went back
to school. I love working with children, especially the little ones. They are so happy to
be in school and love learning.
2: What are the main challenges you face as a teacher?
The main challenge that I face as a teacher is parent support from home. Often times, a
student who is struggling will also have attendance issues or other issues going on at
home. This can make it difficult to get them the intervention that they need to succeed.
3: What is the best part of being a teacher? I love being surrounded by happy children all
day and helping them learn. In no other profession do you get hugs, smiles, or cheers
for just walking in the door every day. Their love and appreciation make me want to be
the best teacher for them that I can be.
4: How do you determine where students sit in class? In virtual learning, I have no
choice. Google meets sorts them for me. In the real classroom, I would first let them
choose where to sit and then after the first week or so will make adjustments due to
behavior and achievement level. I like to have my table groups set up similar to Kagan
groups with a low, medium low, medium, medium high, and high-level student in each
group.
5: How do you select members of any flexible groups? Flexible groups are chosen
based on their current level of need on any assignment. If I see a student needs help, I
will put them in a group for assistance. In distance learning, we are unable to do flexible
groups because parents need a set schedule of meeting times in order to be consistent.
6: How often do you interact with parents in person? What are the main reasons for
interactions with parents? In distance learning I never meet with parents in person. In
the normal classroom environment, I would mainly meet in person with parents if there
was a behavior issue. When I have collected enough evidence (data tracking with
progress monitoring) I will have a meeting to discuss academic issues.
7: How much grading do you complete on a daily/weekly basis? I grade 1-2 assignments
for reading and math, 1 assignment for writing, and Social Studies, Science, and Health
(depending on which of these is current for the week)
8: How long does it take to prepare lessons for the day/week? My first year of teaching it
took me a long time to prepare lessons because I didn’t have a routine or prior lessons
to pull from(a few hours extra outside of contract time) Don’t worry, it gets better! During
normal school, I would say I spend about 3 hours per week during my prep time to
prepare lessons. I can repeat lessons from previous years/have a quick system for
writing lessons, and already have materials saved in my files. Distance learning feels
like I am back to my first year all over again, having to recreate everything from scratch
and adapt lessons to the virtual world. I am trying to keep my head above water.
Collaboration with colleagues is the only way that this is possible.
9: What procedures or strategies do you use to maximize instructional time? To
maximize instructional time, I have taught my students to respond with hand
signals(using fingers to show me the answers in math, thumbs up, thumbs down), use
whiteboards so students can show me their response, I also have students practice
muting and unmuting so that their response time is faster.
10: What positive reinforcements have you used successfully? What behavioral
consequences seem most effective with this age group? During normal education, I use
a color chart where students move their clip up and down based on behavior. They then
report this color to their parents at the end of the day using a calendar that gets colored
in. If they are on green or blue, they earn “warm fuzzies” (pom poms) that they keep in a
cup. They use these fuzzies to buy classroom jobs or prizes from the prize box.
Consequences are a note home to parents and sometimes they lose their ability to
choose their play area at recess. I do not believe in taking away physical activity as a
punishment. If the whole class is good, they earn Fun Friday, which is playtime with
STEAM materials like Legos, building blocks, magnets, and arts and crafts activities.
This takes place Friday afternoons for the last 30 minutes. In Distance learning, I do not
use a reward system or a consequence system. They are all very well behaved. I have
done directed drawings as a treat occasionally.
11: How are specialist teachers involved in your instructional planning and process?
Specialists teachers are not very involved in the lessons planned in the gen ed
classroom. Occasionally, the library teacher would help with research projects.
12: How often are you evaluated, and what measurement tool is used by the
administration for determining your teaching performance? I have one formal
observation each year which includes a pre-observation conference with the principal
where I let them know what they will see during the observation. Then I am observed.
Then I have a post-observation conference where they give me feedback. There are
times throughout the year that the principal will pop in for an informal observation
unannounced to collect evidence for the evaluation that she did not see in the formal
observation.
13: What consequences are there if your evaluation is not favorable? The principal
would provide feedback following an observation and if necessary, issue directives or
things they expect to see next time they come in. If they think I need additional
assistance, they will have the instructional coach model lessons and coach me in my
instruction until I improved.
 14: What surprised you most about teaching as a profession? I was not expecting the
amount of assessing that takes place and how much instructional time it takes up. I
think that the assessment system could be improved upon to make it more efficient.
15: What drives their lesson plans? What standards do teachers use during lesson
planning? We create long range plans each year (sometimes they can be copied from
the previous year which helps for the framework). In the long-range plans, we make
sure that each Common Core standard is covered throughout the year and we lay out
the curriculum for each subject in its sequence. When I lesson plan, I refer to the long-
range plans to know what I am teaching that week and what standards I’m using.
16: If they are teaching at a Nevada Charter school, are there lessons prescribed from
core standards or from other resources? N/A
17. How do you accommodate ELL, GATE, General Ed and Special Education
students? We have very few ELL students at Dooley. We have Gate, Gen ed, and
Special education students (sometimes unidentified in 1st). Even though I have a TESL
certification and have been extensively trained on teaching ELL students, I have found
that most of the ELL instructional strategies are excellent teaching strategies for all
students. I am constantly adapting instruction on the fly to meet needs of high achievers
and those who are struggling. I can provide specific instruction in small groups for all
students.

Extras!
Schedule posted in Canvas:
Classroom Rules posted in Canvas
ASSIGNMENT #7 (Summary): Thoroughly summarize and reflect upon your entire 10-hour
Field Observation. What did you observe, learn, realize 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?

During this observation, I learned a lot about running an elementary level classroom. I got to
experience what it was like to be in an online classroom with the students. I remembered a lot of
my own elementary school experience and how much it has changed over the years and from
the pandemic. This experience really opened my eyes to the background work of being a
teacher, and how important it is to be prepared and to plan for class. I think that I have a little
better understanding of what it means to be a teacher for such young kids because they see
you as such a prominent role model in their life at that age and they look up to the teacher a lot.
It has inspired me to be a better role model in my own life and to show up each day with as
much enthusiasm as I can because that is exactly what those students do. Despite the online
challenges, those kids are still excited to come to class and learn. I am even more excited to
become a teacher and share that excitement for learning with my students. It has really just lit
an even bigger fire under my passion to teach and I am exceptionally grateful to Mrs. Turner for
opening her classroom to me and showing me what a rewarding career I am going to go into.
_____________________________________________________________________

Remember that before receiving the final grade for this EDU course, the CSN student must
submit the completed Cover Page, Field Observation Activities, Time Log, and Student
Evaluation to the CSN instructor for grading.

The cooperating teacher must also email the instructor to confirm the successful completion of
the observation. The student is required to provide the CCSD cooperating teacher with their
CSN professor’s email, so the cooperating teacher can send an email to verify that the student
has successfully completed the 10 hours of observation. The instructor’s email must be
provided on the first page of this packet, and on the next page for the cooperating teacher.

Remember that completion of the Field Observation is a PASS/FAIL component of the course.
Students must save this completed packet in digital form, and as a hard copy for the Education
Department’s capstone course, (EDU 299) Education Portfolio or (EDU 220) Educational
Psychology
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 201 Introduction
to Elementary 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. If at all possible, please utilize the student to
assist you in supervised classroom instructional activities if you deem them ready.

We are hopeful that 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 his/her required 10 observation 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 CSN instructor if there are any questions or concerns.

Also, before a final grade for EDU 201 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 WILL NOT receive a final grade in the
course until the email is received from you.

CSN Course # & name: EDU 201 Introduction to Elementary Education

CSN Professor: Susan Bridges

CSN Professor’s phone:

CSN Professor’s email: Susan.Bridges@csn.edu  

Student’s full name: Elisabeth Whitefield

Student’s email: whitefield.elisabeth@gmail.com or

ELISABETH.WHITEFIELD@student.csn.edu

Should you have any concerns or questions about this process, please feel free to contact the
instructor directly, or the CSN Education Department at: (702) 651-4400.
TIME LOG - CSN Field Observations - VIRTUAL MEETINGS

CSN Student: Elisabeth Whitefield

CSN Instructor: Susan Bridges

CCSD School Assigned: John Dooley ES

CCSD Cooperating Teacher: Shanna Turner

CCSD Grade/Department: 1st grade

CCSD School Principal: Andrea Hill

CCSD School Phone: (702) 799-8060

Date Log On Log Off Hours

11/2/2020 8:00a 10:00a 2

11/6/2020 8:00a 10:00a 2

11/9/2020 8:00a 10:00a 2

11/13/2020 8:15a 10:30a 2.25

11/16/2020 8:30a 10:15a 1.75

10
 Total Hours

CCSD Teacher Signature: _________________Date:11/17/2020_____

FIELD OBSERVATION STUDENT EVALUATION -completed by Cooperating CCSD teacher

Please complete the following evaluation using the Performance Indicator Scores below (with
the student) once the total observation hours are met. Your constructive comments are
extremely valuable to the student. Return this page to the student along with their Time Log to
be submitted to the instructor with the completed Field Observation Packet. Enter the
appropriate “Performance Indicator Score” in the spaces below (4) =exemplary (3)=consistent
level (2)=not consistent (1)=lacking
__4___ Professional appearance, adherence to CCSD dress code
__4___ Reliability, punctuality
__4___ Communicates effectively with teachers and staff
__4___ Demonstrates manners, graciousness
__4___ Reflects upon observations using critical thinking
__4___ Demonstrates enthusiasm and curiosity toward the profession
__4___ Models respectful behavior with students
__4___ Uses appropriate language
__4___ Exhibits pre-service educator success indicators
Comments: Ms. Whitefield was an excellent observer and participated and interacted with the
students when appropriate. My class loved having her visit because she was friendly, inclusive,
kind, and enthusiastic. It was a great experience.
Cooperating Teacher’s Signature:
Date:11/17/20_________

Mrs. Turner’s signature is not showing up so I will include a link to the PDF she sent me with
this completed.

Field Observation Rating and Comments - Shanna Turner