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Field Observation Essay

Cynthia Jurado

Introduction to Special Education 203

December 2021
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Cynthia Jurado

Professor Sgobba

Introduction to Special Education 203

December 2021

Observation Essay

Have you ever experienced Deja Vu? It is that feeling that you know that you have been

there or done something before, and you just cannot put your finger on it. That feeling is how I

felt going to do my observations in Robert Flenoy's self-contained autism classroom. I had

previously worked for Robert Flenoy for three years. I was his classroom aide with

approximately seven self-contained students in the room. I enjoyed my time working for him and

with him to improve the education of our students. When I was a classroom aide for the Clark

County School District, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future. I was living my life

day by day. Now I am in college full time to become a special education elementary teacher.

I was surprised at how different it felt going into Mr. Flenoy's classroom not as an

employee but as an observer. When I would walk into his classroom for my job, I would stay

focused on the children in the room. This time, walking into the room, I was focused on the

teacher, his teaching style, and how he made his classroom more efficient for his students. I

focused on how the teacher spoke to the children, how he used his time efficiently in the

classroom, and how his organized classroom helped the children stay focused and organized.
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Many of the children left the classroom to participate and learn throughout the day in the

general education classrooms. It did not interrupt Mr. Flenoy from continuing his lessons with

the other students. There was one classroom aide that assisted with the daily tasks of the

students. She helped keep the students on task and managed the movement of students to other

classrooms. Having aides in self-contained classrooms is an obvious need. She was able to help

students struggling on a task as the teacher stayed focused on the lesson at hand with the other

students. She was also able to do small group work with a group of three students that were

struggling with sight words. Her presence in the room offered Mr. Flenoy the ability to do

differentiated learning. She was able to work with a group, while he could work with a different

group on a higher-level learning activity. For me, as a future teacher, I was excited to see this in

the classroom.

Clark County School District has many initiatives in place to help students. One of the

initiatives, in particular, Clark County School District has is called "No Student Left Behind."

This initiative was highly present in Mr. Flenoy's classroom, as I could see it at work while the

aide was helping the lower-level students reach new goals.

Mr. Flenoy did have a student that was Emotionally Disturbed. This student was

aggressive with females. Due to his elopement and aggressiveness, the student was kept away

from other students and had to have his wrist held during classroom transitions. When speaking

to Mr. Flenoy about this student, he indicated that progress has been positive, and a lot of growth

and change was happening with the student. He also indicated that small steps were being taken

to include this student in more group work, pending his classroom cooperation and ability to

keep his hands to himself.

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I am thankful that I was able to do my observation hours in Mr. Flenoy's classroom. It has

been insightful and helpful to me. It has given me many ideas on how I would like to run my

classroom in the future.

I look forward to being a great teacher in my self-contained classroom in the future and

will welcome observers into my classroom to learn and grow, just as Mr. Flenoy has allowed me

to do the same.