EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)

Name: Megan Pulley

Date of Observation: 11/18/16

Classroom Teacher: Mrs. Nowell

Time: 1.5 hrs.

I observed..
(What did you see/observe?
What did you hear? What did
you notice?)
Be specific

I thought..
(What you thought about what
you saw, heard, observed,
noticed)
These can be questions

I read
(What did you read that was
connected to what you observed,
noticed, thought? Provide
evidence/quotes from the text/s
that confirm and or dispute your
ideas).

Reflective Questions(How did this experience enhance

my knowledge of a specific reading
concept? Did it challenge or
reinforce my prior understanding?
Explain. What did you learn? What
would you do the same/differently?)

1. Mrs. Nowell begins her

class with a journal activity:
Friday Feasting contest. In
their journals, students must
list as many foods and drinks
as they can think of that begin
with the letter F. After a
winner is declared, she
reviews the vocabulary test
that they took the day before.
2. Mrs. Nowell keeps their
weekly vocabulary words
posted on the wall. They get
a new list of 15 words every
week.
She reviews the expectations
for the oral book reports that
they are to give the following
Tuesday.

I loved Mrs. Nowells journal

activity.
Students seemed to
really enjoy it, and I thought it
was a fun way for students to
warm up their minds for the
class.

Chapter 9 of our text, Writing

Across the Curriculum, provides
information about having students
write in various types of journals.
Mrs. Nowell uses a form of
journal activities in her class as a
way to get students warmed up
and ready to begin the class
session.

This observation provided me with an

example of a fun way to start off a class
period and get students warmed up
before beginning the more strenuous
learning activities. I feel that I would
definitely incorporate something like
this into my classroom.

Chapter 8 of our text deals with

Developing Vocabulary and
Concepts. On this occasion, I
did not observe the ways in which
Mrs.
Nowell
teaches
the
vocabulary in order to compare
with information in the text, but I
did like that the words were
always visible in the classroom.
She obviously teaches them in
some way because students are
EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

This observation reinforced my

understanding of the importance of
explicit teaching of vocabulary.
Although, I did not observe actual
vocab. instruction, it is evident that she
does teach it because students are
tested weekly. I like the idea of
students being given a weekly list. I
could see myself doing that, plus
incorporating some of the strategies
found in our text for teaching

I really liked how Mrs. Nowell

keeps the weekly vocabulary
words posted on the wall. I
always wonder how teachers go
about making their vocab. lists.

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)
3. Today, they are reading a
short biography of Milton
Hershey. Mrs, Nowell calls
on a student to read each
paragraph. She stops after
each paragraph and calls
attention to words or concepts
that they may not know. The
reading passage was followed
by a number of questions that
students were to answer on
their own and in complete
sentences.

I think Mrs. Nowell has a really

effective way of reading as a
whole class. It was a joy to see
students being engaged and
raising their hands to be called on
to read. They also had great
discussions that were led by Mrs.
Nowell.

tested on them every week.

In chapter 7 of our text, Guiding
Reading Comprehension, we
find that Beck and colleagues
(1997) recommend the use of a
variety of discussion moves to
guide students. I can relate my
observation to this portion of text
because the way in which Mrs.
Nowell carried out their wholegroup reading of a text provides
an example of many of those
moves.

EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

vocabulary.
I was definitely intrigued by the way
Mrs. Nowell read with her class. It
really seemed to be effective. This
observation enhanced my knowledge of
the importance of activating students
knowledge and guiding them to
understand the text when reading. I
could see myself utilizing this approach
to whole-group reading. It was simple
to carry out, but very effective, in my
opinion.

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)
Name: Megan Pulley
I observed..
(What did you see/observe?
What did you hear? What did
you notice?)
Be specific

1. Mrs. Nowell begins class

with their journal entry. She
has students draw a picture of
how theyre feeling, then
write about what they would
have for Thanksgiving meal if
they choose. Also write about
what activities they would do
on that day. She has students
share their writing.
2. Today they are reading a
story entitled, Friendship,
which takes place during
Thanksgiving week. Just as
she did before, she calls on
students to read (in random
order, not round robin) a
paragraph each. She leads
them in discussion along the

Date of Observation: 11/21/16

I thought..
(What you thought about what
you saw, heard, observed,
noticed)
These can be questions

Classroom Teacher: Mrs. Nowell

I read
(What did you read that was
connected to what you observed,
noticed, thought? Provide
evidence/quotes from the text/s
that confirm and or dispute your
ideas).

This being my second time The connection to the text would

observing in her class, I can tell be the same as it was with the
that she likes to stick to a specific previous observation with regards
format for her class. I have incorporating the use of journals,
realized that students are given as were mentioned in chapter 9.
journal pages each week that are
divided into sections for each day.
It is in those daily sections that
they complete their journal
activity at the beginning of class
each day.
I liked that Mrs. Nowells Mrs. Nowell activates students
activities
for
today
were prior knowledge and interests as
Thanksgiving related. Although she provides them with reading
she wasnt teaching new material that is related to the
content today, there is always a upcoming
holiday
of
point to what she does, and she Thanksgiving. She also does a
always makes sure bring out great job of pointing out things
important information from the within a text that students should
text
to
increase
students think about.
EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

Time: 1.5 hrs.

Reflective Questions(How did this experience enhance

my knowledge of a specific reading
concept? Did it challenge or
reinforce my prior understanding?
Explain. What did you learn? What
would you do the same/differently?)
It is interesting to see the different
activities that Mrs. Nowell has students
do for their warm-up. So far, the
activities have related to students
interests and are almost silly; however,
each time they have required student to
think and write.

I feel that I am learning a lot from the

way Mrs. Nowell reads with her
students.
I think it is the most
interactive form of whole-group
reading that I have ever witnessed. It is
comfortable and somewhat laid-back,
but meaningful and effective.

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)
way about certain words or
phrases
that
may
be
unfamiliar. A few questions
are answered at the end.
3.
They read a second
Thanksgiving-themed passage
together in the same format.
After reading this passage,
Mrs. Nowell hands out a
packet of activities related to
Thanksgiving, such as writing
an acrostic poem, completing
a crossword puzzle, word
search, etc. She has them
complete the acrostic poem
first,
using
the
word
Thanksgiving.

knowledge.

I thought it was a good call by

Mrs. Nowell to have students
complete the acrostic poem first.
Out of the packet of activities that
she gave them, this was the one
that would require the most
thought.
She recognized that
students would probably skip that
and go to something else, so she
made it a requirement.

I can relate this observation to

chapter 1 in that Mrs. Nowell is a
great representation of an
effective teacher. The way that
she makes her decisions based
upon the knowledge of her
students is a clear indicator of
effective instruction.
It was
evident that she anticipates her
students actions when putting her
lessons together.

EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

From this observation, I learned that

teachers have to be proactive in
thinking about how their students are
going to respond to certain assignments
(in this case the packet of activities),
and plan their expectations accordingly.
Mrs. Nowell made sure that her
students were going to get the most out
of the activities as possible, meaning
that they should start with the most
strenuous first. I will keep this in mind
in my future classroom.

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)
Name: Megan Pulley

Date of Observation: 12/01/16

Classroom Teacher: Mrs. Nowell

Time: 1.5 hrs.

I observed..
(What did you see/observe?
What did you hear? What did
you notice?)
Be specific

I thought..
(What you thought about what
you saw, heard, observed,
noticed)
These can be questions

I read
(What did you read that was
connected to what you observed,
noticed, thought? Provide
evidence/quotes from the text/s
that confirm and or dispute your
ideas).

Reflective Questions(How did this experience enhance

my knowledge of a specific reading
concept? Did it challenge or
reinforce my prior understanding?
Explain. What did you learn? What
would you do the same/differently?)

1.
For todays journal
activity, Mrs. Nowell has
them draw a picture of how
theyre feeling.
Secondly,
they are to pretend they are a
lead singer in a band. They
must decide what type of
music they play, who is in the
band, name of the band, and
name of their first #1 hit.
She reminds them that they
will have their vocab. quiz
today. She allows them to
share their writing.
2. Mrs. Nowell gives students
two minutes to study their
vocab. words. She hands out
quizzes and they begin.
Students who finish are given
a homework activity to work
on while waiting.

I thought this was an interesting

activity.
Students definitely
enjoyed it. I wonder how it
would play out if they had to
write this information in more of
a narrative format?

Because Mrs. Nowells class is

almost exactly the same each
time, it is hard for me make a
different connection for the same
thing. Mrs. Nowell has been
teaching for years, so I am going
to respect her as an effective
teacher in that she (as stated in
Ch. 1 about effective teachers)
has developed an expertise that
allows her to make judgments
about responding to students
needs.

Mrs. Nowell continues to provide

examples of how to encourage students
to think and write by making use of
concepts they would be interested in
and enthusiastic about. I do think I
would change things up a bit as far as
the routine of the class, just so students
wouldnt get bored with always
knowing what to expect. Although I do
see benefit in having structure and
routine.

I thought it was a good idea that This observation again would

Mrs. Nowell allowed her students relate to Chapter 8 of our text,
a couple minutes to review. This Developing Vocabulary and
shows that she really cares about Concepts; however, I am still yet
their success. It was also great to have the opportunity to observe
that she had something prepared her instruction of vocabulary
to give students when they were (other than pointing them out
EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

From this observation I was provided

with a real-life example of why it is
important to have extra work on hand.
I will always keep that in mind. Mrs.
Nowell even mentioned to me during
the interview that it is important to
keep students busy with plenty of

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)

3.
Mrs. Nowell reviews
background information about
Mark Twain that they learned
about in a video they day
before. (they are currently in a
biography unit).
Today they are reading the
first half of My Papa, Mark
Twain, by Susy Clemens. As
before, they read the text in
the same whole-group method
as previously observed.

finished so they wouldnt be

tempted to disturb others who
were still working.
Mrs. Nowell does a great job of
always remembering to review
background information and
relate new information to what
theyve already learned. She has
this reading method down pat. I
am excited to try it myself in the
next block, as I will be teaching
the reading portion of the class.

when reading).

work. I will always keep that in mind.

This observation is related to

Chapter 7 of our text, Guiding
Reading
Comprehension,
because that is exactly what Mrs.
Nowell does when reading with
her class. Mrs. Nowells reading
method is also very similar to a
Directed Reading Thinking
Activity because she almost
always
asks
open-ended
questions.

I learned a lot from observing Mrs.

Nowells method of whole-group
reading. I am looking forward to
attempting it in my own way during the
next class period. She is a great model
of an effective Language Arts teacher.

EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)
Name: Megan Pulley

Date of Observation: 12/02/16

Classroom Teacher: Mrs. Nowell

Time: 1.5 hrs.

I observed..
(What did you see/observe?
What did you hear? What did
you notice?)
Be specific

I thought..
(What you thought about what
you saw, heard, observed,
noticed)
These can be questions

I read
(What did you read that was
connected to what you observed,
noticed, thought? Provide
evidence/quotes from the text/s
that confirm and or dispute your
ideas).

Reflective Questions(How did this experience enhance

my knowledge of a specific reading
concept? Did it challenge or
reinforce my prior understanding?
Explain. What did you learn? What
would you do the same/differently?)

1. Mrs. Nowell begins as

usual with their daily journal
activity.
Today they are
having a Fa-la-la Friday
contest. Students are given 5
mintues to list as many titles
of Christmas songs as they
can think of.

I thoroughly enjoyed this activity.

I even attempted it myself along
with the students. The students
loved that I participated.

Mrs. Nowell definitely does her

best to activate students interests
when it comes to her class
activities. I can tell that she is a
teacher who is very conscious of
what her students like and tries to
make learning fun for them.

2. Mrs. Nowell reviews their

vocab. quiz and presents the
new vocabulary for next
week. She does this by using
an overhead projector to show
the list. Students write them
down in their journals. Mrs.
Nowell goes over each word
individually,
giving
the
definition and examples of the
context in which you would

It was very interesting to see how

Mrs.
Nowell
goes
about
introducing the new vocabulary
list. She was very thorough when
it came to giving proper contexts
in which the word would be used.

Chapter 8 of our text provides

information about Using Context
to
Approximate
Meaning.
Although Mrs. Nowell isnt
exactly using this strategy, it is
evident that she realizes the
importance of providing students
with the appropriate context in
which to use their vocabulary
words.

From my observations of Mrs. Nowell,

I have learned that you can be laid back
and have fun with your students while
still keeping a level of structure and
making your expectations known. In
her class there is a time for having fun,
and a time for serious learning, but
both come together for a meaningful
learning experience. Thats the type of
class I would want to create for my
students.
By observing Mrs. Nowell, I have
definitely witnessed the extent to which
vocabulary should be valued and
taught.
I always knew it was
important, but she has provided an
example of being proactive in teaching
vocabulary to her students.

EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

EDU 4010 OL1

Journal of School Observations (JOSO)
use it.
3. Today they are reading the
second half of My Papa,
Mark Twain, by Susy
Clemens.
Mrs. Nowell
adheres to her usual method
of whole-group reading and
guided discussion.

It is amazing to me how Mrs.

Nowell is able to engage her
students when reading.
She
pretty much sticks to the same
method each time, but it seems to
be working because the students
are continuously responding.

Todays observation once again

relates most closely with chapter
7 of our text, Guided Reading
Comprehension. Mrs. Nowell
has developed a great flow
when reading with her students.
She is constantly checking for
understanding and promoting
deeper thinking.

EDU 4010.OL1 D. Barringer

Mrs. Nowell is a great teacher. Her

students are very engaged and
enthusiastic when in her class. All
students participate when reading and
answering her discussion questions. I
have learned a lot from observing Mrs.
Nowell. I am looking forward to
teaching my part of the lesson once
again in the next block.