Kimberly hall

Secondary EDU

05/07/2021

Alternative field Observation

By

Kimberly D. Hall
Alternative Field Observation Packet © CSN Ed Department 202063. Evaluate the interactions
between teacher and students, rapport, cohesiveness, distribution of power, teacher personality.

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.

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

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

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

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

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

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.

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

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

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

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.

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

5. Briefly describe three other pieces of information that can be found on your assigned school’s
website. Culture of the Classroom: Each classroom has its own culture and way of life.

Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

1. What are the teacher’s expectations for learning and success? 2. Evaluate the level of student
participation in the class. Who participates? Who does not?
Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

4. Observe student-to-student interactions, inside and outside of the class. Are they using any chat
features to communicate with each other? Done Virtually Assignment #2 has classroom details.

ASSIGNMENT #2 (Classroom Observations)1: What are your first impressions of the virtual classroom
environment? Is it warm, inviting, organized, etc.?
My first impression of the classroom was shocking, as I am sure it was for many new students attending
class during the Covid-19 crisis. The students were all hidden behind the cloak and dagger of their
personal screen icon so were unobservable, however there was one student I did see very engaged and
in the privacy of his kitchen. His room was well lit with sunlight and he had all required materials strewn
across what I assume to be his family’s kitchen table. The teacher, Miss Tapia, had a well-lit room in her
home office, that displayed canvas and other tools she purchased to help with the classroom
presentation. She had math problems displayed throughout the course for students who learn visually,
and she also allowed the students to perform work along side her to enforce a kinesthetic environment.
In my opinion, Miss Tapia did a phenomenal job of keeping the students engaged and focused on the
curriculum being presented. She presented the lesson concisely that was conducive to the learning
environment.

Describe the virtual environment in detail. 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.

The virtual environment to me is a hinderance to individuals who need to engage with the teacher,
however I believe Miss Tapia did a great job with handling questions she was presented and keeping the
students engaged. The environment was relaxed, but very intuitive. I am completing my final math
course in college this semester, and while I observed, she helped me with some of the issues I was
having in my own class.

3: Are their posted class rules or course expectations? If rules/expectations are posted write them
exactly as they appear.

The class rules were not posted anywhere visually on the canvas environment, however Miss Tapia
continually reminded students of the different responsibilities they had regarding her class. The time I
observed was when her students were taking exams, and when they were transitioning to different
grade levels. The students seemed somewhat confused often due to the Covid 19 situation, however
Miss Tapia, calmed their silent issues by giving pertinent direction and information to all that required it.
She also extended her office hours to the students daily as a reminder if they needed additional help.
Her warm smile that she displayed daily, and her jokes she included with the lesson, made for an
interesting and exciting day of learning.

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

Miss Tapia enforced her rules of listening to the lectures, doing assigned in classroom assignments and
homework, by continually asking if anyone needed help. She reiterated at least three times per class the
expectations she had placed on her students and the acknowledgement of understanding was given
back to Miss Tapia. I admired how much control she had over her students. She was not forceful or a
tyrant, but more so she built a level of respect with her students, which was obviously appreciated by
the students who returned the admiration.

What rewards or consequences are used for compliance or noncompliance?

Miss Tapia rewarded her students with a quality education and the willingness to help her students
without fail. The only consequence I noted from observing her class was if a student did not do the
required curriculum, they would fail due to their own failures. Miss Tapia was exceptionally well at
keeping the students engaged and on track. I never once heard her set a derogatory expectation during
the class, but she did set the expectation of achieving greatness.

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

During the daily and weekly schedule was well posted in the student’s agenda that I could not see,
however Miss Tapia did advise them on several occasions to refer to their daily agendas for her class. As
well, the students had advisement class time for approximately 25 minutes per day that allowed the
opportunity of knowing what was ahead for their class and school. The students were able to converse
with Miss Tapia via Canvas as well as through her email if necessary.

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

The evidence of the school’s mission and vision statement were not visual on the screens I saw in the
virtual environment, however during advisement class, the students were able to read the mission
statement there.

ASSIGNMENT #3 (Classroom Layout): Take screenshots of the learning management system used by
the teacher (Canvas, Google Classroom, Seesaw etc..)>>>INSERT YOUR SCREENSHOT
HERE<<<C:\Users\kimdh\Downloads\image (1).png

C:\Users\kimdh\Downloads\image (2).png

C:\Users\kimdh\Downloads\image (3).png

C:\Users\kimdh\Downloads\image (4).png

C:\Users\kimdh\Downloads\image (5).png

C:\Users\kimdh\Downloads\image (6).png

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

The workflow of the environment was very conducive to the student’s learning objective. Miss Tapia
also purchased certain programs with her own money to enhance the student’s education in Math.
With the program she had, it allowed the students to see her doing the Math problems along side them
for clarification. Also, she had a display of classroom of her lessons and different class times if students
needed additional lecture time. I though it was a great advantage she gave her students to be able to
listen in on other classes they were not attending. I wish I had that option in some of my own college
courses.

2: In your opinion, how can the virtual arrangement of the room be improved?

The virtual arrangement of the room in my opinion lacked any additional equipment that was needed.
The teacher had all necessary equipment on hand to complete a conducive and successful lecture for
her students. She also had a very bright and open background that displayed her name and a greeting
that I thought was a nice added touch. It was in her home, but it was neat, colorful but not distracting,
and the learning environment was the center of attraction.

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?

Miss Tapia’s instruction was given daily to all classes ranging from 6 th grade to 8th grade. She would first
present her daily lecture to the entire classroom at once. She offered one on one sessions that the
students could arrange via her canvas email. Daily, I heard her state to the children that she would be
available if anyone needed help during her office hours. Multiple students did state they were going to
attend, and I did overhear her state to some of the students the following day, she would be available
once again that day, if needed. Often during her off time from lecturing, she would allow student to go
into different chat rooms to help one another as well as work on similar assignments. Some of the
groups were small, however I did notice a couple groups that had at least 15 students in it.

2: Describe your cooperating teacher’s teaching style.

From the observation of Miss Tapia, in my opinion Miss Tapia combines visual with auditory teaching
styles. She is a Math teacher, so she often incorporates the kinesthetic approach by allowing students
to do problems she presents in lecture. She also incorporates emotional intelligence with the student,
and it is displayed by the admiration the students show for her.

3: How does the teacher incorporate the sensory modalities (learning styles)? Give examples.

Miss Tapia incorporates the sensory modalities of visual, by displaying a vast amount of information on
her learning platform. As well she allowed students to present problems, they had difficulties with to
her during class, and she would reiterate a shorter version of that lecture. I notice this was done quite
frequently in her classroom, and as the week progressed, I noticed the students seemed more confident
about the test they had in the future. She repetitively hit on key points of mathematical formulas and
problems and asked numerous questions to ensure the lesson was understood by her students.

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

Even though the students were not able to be seen, I can assure you they were very engaged. Through
the microphone I head multiple questions and I also notice that students would answer Miss Tapia’s
questions promptly. She had control of the class, as well as the class was involved. Most of the time, I
would hear students asking question of previous days lecture and not the daily lecture at hand. This
gave me confidence that the students were understanding the information presented to them, and they
followed with intellectual questions to further enhance the learning.

5: Are there any students isolated or not present/participating in the class? Explain?

Unfortunately, I could not observe all the students except one who kept his visual screen on daily.
However, I can attest that the students were engaged and asked numerous questions. It was not
questioning primarily due to misunderstanding, but more so questions to reassure themselves of if they
understood it right. Her classrooms rarely had absences, in fact I only noted that 2 students were
absent when I observed Miss Tapia’s classes.

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

Miss Tapia handled absences in her class by affirming they were absent in her notebook and by asking
that student if they saw the lecture in her Canvas. She recorded her lectures on Canvas when she
lectured to ensure the students could look back on curriculum for studying. Also, the expectation was
known by the students that her assignments given, and due dates were on Canvas.

7: How does the teacher handle transitions from subject to subject or activity to activity? Are the
transitions efficient?

Unfortunately, my observation time was during testing for all grades. Miss Tapia primarily presented
lectures to students based on their concerns. There were multiple formulas covered, but Miss Tapia
ensured the lesson she was on was followed up with questions or concerns before moving on to the
next problem and lecture.

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

Miss Tapia utilized the students name as an attention getting command, and I must say she did it quite
often. This let me know which students needed more help and which students did not. I do not know if
this is a good thing, but I somehow could sense which students were behind in class. Unfortunately,
because of Covid 19, some of the questions and concerns that would normally be done in private, must
be done publicly sometime. Not to humiliate the student, but instead to stay abreast of the concerns
she had with the student retaining the information given to them.

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

The only behavior issues I noted from Miss Tapia’s class was students being away from their desks when
called upon. Some students had legitimate reasons for being gone, such as bathroom breaks, however
there was no signal given prior to them going away from communication prior to her knowledge. Miss
Tapia did pay attention to her classroom because I heard her state multiple times that students were
dormant on the website site they were learning from. She could tell when students were not doing the
necessary work and she would call them out on it. She was not disrespectful, but she did set the
standard of attending class.

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

There were no policies or procedures that I saw that hindered the class, however there were several
that I saw that influenced it. Miss Tapia constantly gave the option to the students who needed and
requested help, to contact her during her office hours where she would be available to answer their
concerns. As well, I saw that she put some of her students that were doing well, in private groups with
students who were not. This was an idea that I believe enhanced her class because in my opinion,
children learn well from other children. Miss Tapia utilized her time well with time management skills I
believe she has mastered. Her curriculum was presented in a timely fashion, which left room for
multiple questions. She met all the requirements the school required of her by during her advisement
class, as did all the teachers, and she used her mental and professional skills to complete a great day of
learning, each day I observed.

ASSIGNMENT #5 (Observing a student): Discretely observe one student in your assigned classroom
during direct instruction.
1: What drove you to choose this student?

What drove me to observe Jake, the student in Miss Tapia’s class, is because he was the only student
who had his camera on to be seen.

2: Explain what the student did during the observation.

During the observation, I noted that Jake was one of the students who were most engaged. It was kind
of funny, but he raised his hand to ask a question and then he resorted to his microphone when his
question went unanswered. Sometimes I noticed when Miss Tapia would give out problems to
complete during class time, Jake would finish them quickly and lay on his kitchen table that served as his
desk. He seemed to like the course of instruction, but it was clear to me, that he was far ahead of some
of his counterparts.

3. Summarize the lesson given and the student’s responses to the lesson. And 4. Make sure to
document ALL behavior in relationship to what was being presented by the classroom teacher

On one day, Miss Tapia was lecturing on inequalities, in which many students seemed to be having
problems with. This was the class that I took away a bit of knowledge of my own. The students asked
multiple questions, and Miss Tapia would respond by displaying mathematical problems like their
concerns and walk them through the problems until completion. She would emphasize key points the
student should ensure to note and if any questions were given, Miss Tapia would respond and ask if
further questions are left unanswered. The students’ responses were clarified when no further
questions were asked following each lecture. The students clearly understood because she followed up
with additional questions, where she advised the students to display their answers visually, to ensure
they were getting the right answers, and to address the individuals who did not.

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

The different things I discovered about the student’s learning styles, involvement in class and
educational needs, were that they were all addressed by Miss Tapia with somewhat ease. She formed a
great rapport with her students in an environment that is somewhat hard to establish. She formed a
learning environment that showed respect for her students and met the standards of a top-notch
curriculum. She must have noted prior to my observation which student needed more attention, and
she learned how each student learned, she displayed her lectures utilizing the kinesthetic, auditory and
visual elements involved. With this approach, the questions that followed were primarily questions to
reinforce what they already knew. Today, in many classrooms students must rely on visual productions
of curriculum, but in Miss Tapia’s class, I can attest that all 3 approaches are displayed exceptionally.

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.

Unfortunately, Miss Tapia did not forward me the interview questions I sent her. I informed this of
you earlier in the semester and you stated it was ok. Also, you said she sent my observation hours
paperwork so I cannot attach them here. I do not want to give false answers, so I hope this does not
affect my grade to bad. Questions are resumed at number 18.

1: What was the primary reason you became a teacher?

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

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

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

5: How do you select members of any flexible groups?

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

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

8: How long does it take to prepare lessons for the day/week?

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

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

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

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

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

14: What surprised you most about teaching as a profession?

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

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

17. How do you accommodate ELL, GATE, General Ed and Special Education students? ASSIGNMENT
#7 (Summary): Thoroughly summarize and reflect upon your entire 10-hour Field Observation.

18. What did you observe, learn, realize about teachers, students, instruction, the school
environment?

I learned a lot during my observation of Miss Tapia, her students, the instruction and the class
environment. I primarily learned that students could achieve success when there are obstacles thrown
at them especially during critical times that affect our nation. Children are resilient and it was clearly
displayed that Miss Tapia had no problem transitioning to a conducive to learning virtual environment. I
observed students engaged in the lecture at hand, and a teacher giving her all to the students before
her. She displayed this same momentum in all her classes, and not one class missed a beat. I learned I
would like to display multiple tactics, such as her group assignments and repetitive based teaching
tactics in my own classrooms. I learned how control and rapport are key factors in attaining success in
the classroom, and keeping the students focused and busy kept the students engaged. Miss Tapia rarely
had down time from lecturing, but when she did, I noticed that is when students would disappear for
bathroom breaks or whatever they were doing. I learned that I would have a signal in place to ensure I
know who is not at their desk.

19. How has this observation better prepared you to understand the teaching profession?

The observation better prepared me for teaching because it gave me a firsthand look at day-to-day
operations of a teacher and what it entails. I feel better prepared because of some of the tactics of
classroom control I saw displayed by Miss Tapia. She knew when to ask questions and did not miss a

beat when time came to transition to something else. I also learned that teaching in a virtual
environment does have its downside, but still possible. As teacher, I learned, you must have patience
and understanding with your students. Also, you must be willing to give your time and assistance
whenever necessary, even on your personal bad days. The demeanor f the teacher, rules the classroom
environment.

20. How does the observation relate to the text information and class activities?

The observation related to the text in several ways. First it stressed the emphasis of the learning styles,
kinesthetic, auditory and visual, and showed examples of it being done. The text stressed on how
different ethnic backgrounds, children with negative environments at home and dealing with different
social issues affect their learning. During the observation, it was extremely difficult to affirm that any
children were going through problems, and on the other side of the spectrum, having no difficulties at
all. This is something that I believe is an issue because the teacher cannot assess the student’s behavior
or appearance unless directed to. I will ensure the camera is on in my classroom if I am teaching
virtually.

21. What specific ideas on teaching will you remember to include in your classroom?

The ideas of teaching I observed in Miss Tapia’s classroom that I will include in my classroom s first, the
warm greeting she had displayed in her background. I thought it was welcoming and during my ten
hours of observation, I kind of looked forward to seeing it. I also will remember the structure she led
her classroom with daily. She was in control and held control of the curriculum and behavior in her
classroom. As well, Miss Tapia gave a 110% each time she presented a lecture to her students. She
reinforced the knowledge she gave them daily by repetitively asking questions for them to answer. Also,
like Miss Tapia, I understand sometimes the school’s budget does not afford the right equipment to get
the job done, but to ensure your students learn, you must sometimes utilize your own means to get the
job done. You must care for people and be able to show empathy when necessary. Youi must have
personable skills to acquire the respect you need to ensure your students get a proper education.