Artifact #1- Field Observation

Vicky Murillo

Edu 201, Tuesday 1:00PM-3:50PM

November 25, 2017

Dr. Ce Isbell

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Artifact #1- Field Observation

Assignment 1 (Observations)

[1] As I walked into the room my first impressions was that the classroom was inviting,

warm, creative, organized, attractive and functional. The students little heads popped up to see

who was at the door and they all greeted me. The class was very inviting

As you walk in to the right there is a wall on that wall there is a shelf with 12 bins. Each

bin contains different materials; they contain things like highlighters, crayons, markers,

clipboards, ect. Next to the shelves there is big construction paper with the words “word wall” on

it. The word wall has the alphabet letter and underneath each letter there are different words.

Next to the word wall there are 2 chairs and a desk side by side. On top of that desk there is a

basket of books to read aloud, a phonics book and a lesson plan book. Next to that there is a

water fountain and then a sink in the corner.

The next wall has a construction paper that contains class rules, star student billboard, a

flier that reads “Paws for greyhound character.” Next to that there is a listening center that

contains a desk with 2 chairs, a small boom box and some earphones. As you make your way to

the left of the wall there is a big construction paper that reads “Calendar and Math.” Underneath

that sign there is a board with a calendar, a season’s chart, several math cheat sheets, and the

numbers from 1 to 100. In front of that wall there is a shelf that has approximately 18 open

spaces for fun activity papers. There’s different types educational games and worksheets on

there. As you make you way to the corner there is a reading corner. The corner is labelled

“Reading and Writing.” There are books shelves with many books.

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To the left of the reading and writing corner is the whiteboard. Now you’re looking to the

front of the class. There is not much in front of the class but the white board, the projector

screen, the class schedule, some reminders, and an American flag.

To the left corner is the teacher’s desk. Mrs. Moses has pictures of her family, some

flowers, a computer on her desk, a couple of file cabinets and a printer. To the left of the teachers

desk there is a round table for 6 students and the teacher.

[2] The make-up of the class consisted of 21 students. 10 were males and 11 were female.

The class had 12 White children, 2 African American, 4 Asian and 3 Hispanic. There was a

seating arrangement for the students. The teacher will change the seating arrangement according

to how the students behave and how they get along with the other students. All the students had a

name tag in front of their desk with their picture and student number on it. There were no ELL

students and it didn’t seem there was any with physical challenges.

[3] There are 4 classroom rules. The rules were be responsible, be respectful, be kind, be

your best. I really like these rules, I feel like it teaches students skills to use outside of the

classroom.

[4] The teacher does enforce the rules but I did not see the reward or punishment for

compliance or noncompliance I was expecting. The students have a daily behavior sheet and the

teacher tells them randomly while they are working, to mark one of the rules on their paper as

she sees the students comply with the rules. For example if the group is supposed to be reading

and most students are not but there are a few that are doing what they’re supposed to be doing

she will tell them “mark be responsible and be your best on your daily sheet.” Or if one student is

helping another tie their shoes she will say “mark be kind on your daily sheet.” For the students

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that are not complying she gives them reminders. If she gives them several reminders and the

student still doesn’t comply she sends a purple disciplinary sheet (think sheet) for the parents to

read, sign, and return.

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Assignment 2 (Classroom Layout)

[1] The workflow of the classroom is efficient. The students have a clear view of the

board. Some students have to turn their head to the right or left to see the board. But given the

size of the class the space is used efficiently.

[2] The physical arrangement can be changed to where there is no table in the middle and

it will be easier to access the students and move through the rows. Maybe have the projector up

on the ceiling and the elmo on a moving table so that the only time it will block will be when it is

in use.

Assignment 3 (Instruction)

[1] The class schedule is very clear. It is posted in front of the class by the white board.

The first thing on the agenda is reading at 9:10, then they move to writing at 11:00, lunch at

11:10 back to writing at 11:45, math at 12:25, Science at 1:35 and I-time at 2:00 they refer to I-

time as specials. Specials is where the class goes to a different classroom and they do more

activity like assignments like poetry, art, physical education, science, ect.

[2] The teacher usually separates the students in small groups. She has 6 students

working with her on a round table while she keeps her eye on the rest of the class. The rest of the

class is separated into 3 different groups. The groups could be reading, spelling, math, poetry, or

coloring activity. She gives her students directions of things to do while she is working with

small reading group. After a certain amount of time she changes the groups around and she

works with a different group of students.

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[3] Mrs. Moses teaching style is student centered. She shows students how to do things

and tries to facilitate the lecture so that the students can understand. She tries to incorporate her

teaching style with techniques that best match the students’ ability to learn.

[4] The teacher does incorporate sensory modalities. Mrs. Moses uses auditory, visual,

and kinetics. She lectures the class and explains clearly what they need to be doing and she asks

if they fully understand what she is saying. That is an example of auditory. She relies heavily on

visual teaching. Almost everything she does she puts it on the board or projector. Most students’

in her class are visual learners so she makes sure she uses this often. She also puts YouTube

videos and educational songs or the children can sing and dance while they learn. The students

love this. All the students jump out of their seat and get the biggest smiles when they know

they’re going to watch a video.

[5] Most students seem engaged in the lesson, there are some that don’t. Some of the

students’ seem like they have behavior problems and those are the students that are least engaged

in the lecture.

[6] There is not any students’ isolated from the rest of the class. On 3 occasions the

teacher has isolated them as consequences. One little boy was not done with his classwork and

the class was moving on to another subject but they were taking a restroom break first. The boy

was left behind in the class while everyone else went on their restroom break. On another

occasion a little boy was disrupting the class and got several warnings. The teacher separated

him during read aloud because he could not behave. Those were the only time I witnessed

students being separated from the class but it was not a permanent move.

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[7] The time was not managed efficient enough. Even though the class had a very clear

schedule the teacher did fall behind a few times. I was not there a whole day from beginning to

end. But from what I noticed the class was behind because some students were slower than

others in the classwork. Mrs. Moses will say to them “Come on, lets hurry up, lightning speed,

we have to move on.” But some students would not go as fast as they should. I don’t know if it

was because they didn’t have enough time or because they were talking to their neighbor.

[8] The transitions were efficient for most part. There were times where the transition

took longer because some students would not be as fast or follow directions as well as they

should. The teacher did the best she could to try to get the students to move quickly. She would

have all the materials they were going use ready to go for the students.

[9] There were not many ways that the teacher attempted to get the students attention.

She would just verbally tell them to pay attention and it was effective but not all the time. The

only other way she would get them to quickly line up and the student will say “Our eyes are

facing forward. We’re standing straight and tall, our arms are folded. We are ready for the hall.”

Once the first student started to say it the rest would get in a straight line and follow along.

[10] Some behavior issues the teacher had to deal with were mainly with the same 3

students. The teacher will give them several reminders and they will stop at the moment then

they go back to their old habits. One little girl loves to talk to her neighbors and tries to be funny

during a lesson. If the teacher asks a question about the lesson she will yell out random things

like “chicken” or “smelly feet” the class laughs but the teacher gives her warnings. She gets a

disciplinary sheet to take to her parents because she disrupts class. Another little boy walks

around talking to other students. He knows what he is supposed to be doing and he is smart. He

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finishes most of his work ahead of time, then he goes off talking to people and waits until last

minute to finish the rest. The teacher gives them constant reminders and if they don’t listen she

separates then and if that doesn’t work she send a disciplinary sheet to their parents.

[11] I did not notice any policies or procedures that help or hinder instructional time.

Assignment 4 (Culture)
Physical Characteristics
[1] As I drive up to the school for the first time I see that it looks clean, safe and

organized. Around the school there are signs that indicate that there is a school and there are

crosswalks for pedestrians. The school is fenced, there is grass and trees very well kept. The

parking lot is organized. It has arrows on the floor directing traffic for one way lanes, and there is

a designated entrance and exit for an easy way to get around the school.

[2] Inside the school you are greeted by the staff in the office, you let them know your

reason for being there and they will have to buzz you in. Not anyone can just go in the school,

they have good entrance security. Once you’re buzzed in through the double doors, there is a

learning center right in front and to the right is the hallway for the classrooms, library, computer

lab, ect. As you’re walking through the hallway you see walls decorated with Halloween things. I

did not really notice any trophies, community achievements or awards. There is tile flooring in

the hallways and the general areas like the library, lunchroom, computer lab, ect, and good

lighting all around the halls and classrooms. Inside the classrooms there is carpet. The classroom

I was in had a two color wall, pink on top and white at the bottom.

Culture of the school

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[1] The school mascot is greyhounds. I saw it in various places. When you walk in the

double doors you see the school mascot on a wall. As you go through the halls there are bulletin

walls and decorative walls I slightly saw it there as well. There were mainly Halloween

decorations and students work in the hallways. The missions statement is “The Goolsby

Leadership Community is united in the belief that all children will become successful leaders of

the future through an academically rigorous program in literacy, scientific inquiry, mathematical

application and interdisciplinary connections.” . I did not see the mission statement anywhere in

the school. I could have missed it but I found it on the website.

[2] The staff in the front desk is friendly. They are very helpful and welcoming. The staff

in the office is strict with student security. The students are not allowed take any phone calls

from parents for security purposes. Visitors also have to sign in and out with their picture taken.

The cooperating teacher Mrs. Moses was very nice as well and tried to make me feel comfortable

with the students. The other staff members were nice but didn’t really notice, or talk to me.

Everybody was just kind of doing their own thing.

[3] The school does use bells for students to go to break and lunch. The classrooms are

separated into sections. Each section has a different grade levels. When it is time to go to lunch

or break the hall is not too loud or disruptive because it is only one or two classes in that hall.

The students stay with the same teacher all day long except for the time they go to specials. That

is the only time students are with another teacher. I did not notice anyone in the class being

pulled out for special education, but I believe they do have a pull-out program.

[4] Student-to-student interaction in the classroom is great. The students are all really

nice and friendly to each other. Inside the classroom they all get along and talk and play. Outside

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of the classroom the students still interact but they have other friends as well. In the lunchroom

the students interact with each other mainly because they have to sit together sorted by class.

[5] I did not notice many school achievements, awards, community work or clubs. I only

saw that they help the Ronald McDonalds charity. And I also notice the students raising money

for the class and the class who raises the most money gets an extra recess.

Culture of the classroom

[1] The teacher expects her students to be successful and learn skills outside of the

classroom along with the material she teaches. She focuses on the classroom rules, which are

also great life skills outside of the classroom. She is nice and friendly with the students but she is

also assertive. It is clear that she is the teacher and the rules have to be followed.

[2] All students participate. This surprised me because when I was in school I did not

want to participate in anything or be called on but these students love it. When the teacher asks a

question the students have to put their hand on their chest and the teacher calls on them. The

reason she doesn’t want the students to raise their hand is because all the students want to be

called on and they start yelling out the answer. The teacher randomly chooses a student and once

you are chosen you cannot be chosen again. She gives everyone a chance to participate. If

everyone doesn’t get a turn in one activity she calls them on the next activity.

[3] The teacher is friendly and understanding. She spends more time with the students’

who need help. She explains to the class their work and if she sees that a student doesn’t know

what to do, she goes up to the student and explains it. She makes little jokes and the students

love it they just laugh. When the teacher is serious about something she does raise her voice just

enough so the students can know she is serious.

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Assignment 5 (Cooperating Teacher Interview)

[1] When Mr. Moses was in college she was still trying to decide her major. At the time

she worked at a children’s bookstore and there she met many teachers and school librarians.

Some teachers asked if she wanted to go read for the students and ever since the first day she

read to the children she realized she wanted to be a teacher.

[2] Teaching has changed a lot over the years and there have been plenty of challenges as

a teacher but the main challenges that Mrs. Moses faces is all the paperwork and demands. They

take up a lot of time, and she never has enough time to do everything how she wants to do it and

keep up with all the demands.

[3] There are so many things she loves about teaching but the best part is working with

students. And even though it is difficult it is so rewarding to see how much they learn and seeing

them grow.

[4] It took her a little while to get this but now she places nametags in any order before

the school year starts. Then during the first day of school she knows right away who needs to be

in front and who cannot sit near each other. And she changes the seating accordingly that is how

she determine how students sit in class.

[5] Mr. Moses determines members of flexible groups based on need. The groups may

need to focus on completing an assignment, a skill that needs to be retaught, and enrichment

group ect. She also has guided reading groups daily based on reading levels.

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[6] Beyond standardized testing Mrs. Moses assesses regularly which include running

records during guided reading groups, observations, and formative assessment to guide her

teaching.

[7] There are requirements that are placed for reporting progress to parents those are to

send a monthly progress report home that are generated from the gradebook. This is a

schoolwide requirement. The parents have to sign it and return it to school. As a school they are

also required to have parent/teacher conferences and provide assessment data and go over

student progress in detail. Prior to parent teacher conferences Mrs. Moses has already requested

meetings with parents to go over academic and/or behavior concerns. She also sends home

“Think Sheets” to let parents know about behavior issues that day. The parents have to sign them

and return them to school the next day. Students also have a chart on the back of their homework

folders. The chart has our class rules listed under each day of the week. As students are “caught”

demonstrating a rule, they get to mark it. Parents are asked to check it daily and praise their

children for demonstrating the rules. At the end of the week, parents sign the chart and return it

on Monday.

[8] She interacts with parent as often as she needs to for behavior academic concerns. She

discusses anything needed to be discussed. She asks parents to come in before or after school.

She also talks to them at dismissal. If Mrs. Moses talks to them at dismissal, she always tries to

pull them to the side or talk quietly so the other parents or students do not hear the conversation.

[9] Mrs. Moses is required to put in 1-2 grades a week for reading, writing, and math. For

science, social studies, and health it is usually 1 grade a week for each one of the subjects.

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[10] She takes hours a day to plan, prepare and type lessons for the week. It amazes her

how much has to go into preparing for the class.

[11] To maximize her instructional time she puts small groups to her table because she

can get a lot accomplished in a short period of time. She also gets started right away in the

morning. And she keeps her materials handy and organized to minimize transition time.

[12] Positive reinforcement she uses is verbal praise, which is always appreciated by

students. She has the behavior chart and the students are proud when they get to fill in a rule. She

also has a sentence written on the board every time the class gets a compliment in the hallway, at

an assembly, in lunch room ect., they earn a letter to spell out the sentence. When the sentence is

spelled out, the whole class earns a reward. The reward is always a surprise so they never know

what it will be.

As for behavior consequences the “think sheets’ are helpful because the students and the

teacher discuss why they are receiving one and then they go home and discuss it with their

parents.

[13] Specialist teachers are not involved in their instructional planning. They are

responsible for their own standards and are separate from the classroom standards.

[14] Teachers at Goolsby are evaluated by observation approximately 3 times a year (or

more). After observation they meet with their administrator and go over their observation each

time. Their actual evaluation is once a year.

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[15] Mrs. Moses is unsure of the consequences there are if there is an unfavorable

evaluation. She has not had an unfavorable evaluation in her 17 years of teaching. She believes

teachers are put back under probation.

[16] The types of support received at Goolsby Elementary School relies a lot on parents.

Parent volunteers are pretty abundant in the school. They help with many aspects of the

classroom and school instructionally and financially. The administration is also very supportive

and does everything that they can to support the school in every way. That is our main support;

They don’t get much support from the school district.

[17] What surprised her most about teaching is all the time that it takes to actually do the

job. She spends so much personal time and feels that it takes away from her family. She is also

very surprised at how many unbelievable things that you hear and see as a teacher. It opens your

eyes and you realize very quickly that some kids are so much more fortunate than others and that

not everyone values their children.

Assignment 6 (Observing a student)

As soon as I walked in and introduced myself I took a seat in the corner. Mrs. Moses was

working with a group of students while keeping an eye on the class. I noticed that most students

were working on their work except for one that was getting a book from the reading corner. He

picked up his book and did not go back to his seat like he was supposed to. I immediately

thought to myself that was going to be the kid I observe. The whole class was working on their

assigned work except for him.Once the other students notice he was there more of them got up

from their seats and joined him. That is when the teacher noticed and told them all to go back to

their seats. The children all went back to their seat.

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I observed Austin and noticed he was not really reading. He would pick up a book skim

through it and put it back. And he continued to do this for about 15 minutes, until it was time for

the students to go to lunch.

Once the class got back from lunch he took his seat and the teacher gave the students a

writing assignment. As the teacher lectured he was paying attention but he would get distracted

quite easily. Most of the other students were paying attention to the teacher. He worked on his

worksheet quietly and completed it fairly quickly. He doesn’t interact with the class much. He

just focuses on his work and gets a book to read. I find he has a hard time concentrating or

reading when he is done with his work. Some kids try to talk to him and he answers them but he

doesn’t really interact much. He just keeps to himself for the most part. On the next day I

observed the class Austin was absent.

On the final day of observation Austin was there in his seat and I noticed there was a

student sitting next to him this time. The teacher was working with her group and the students

had to be working on some poetry that was put up on the elmo. He was working quietly and he

finished he went to get his book to read. There were other activities the students could be doing

like coloring, math worksheet, games with a partner, ect. But Austin will just go grab a book and

skim through it and put it back and grab another. There were other students reading as well but

they were more interactive with the class. They will open their books and show their neighbors

or their friends the pictures, and they will just laugh or say comments like “aww, the kitty is so

cute.” Austyn’s neighbor David was acted similar to Austin is the sense that he keep to himself

more than others.

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I went to lunch and recess with the students and surprisingly Austin was being more

interactive. In Mrs. Moses class there were only 2 African American students Austin and another

little girl. On the playground Austin looked for his friends who were mainly African American.

When we got back to class the teacher lectured on some math. Austin did the same as usual, He

finished his work and went to the reading corner and picked up a book. I think Austin felt out of

place in his classroom and if I were in his shoes I feel I would feel the same way. It is not easy to

be in a room where no one else looks like you. It just puts you in an uncomfortable situation.

Assignment 7 (Summary)

The first time I walked into the school I was extremely nervous. I checked in and went to

my cooperating teachers’ class and immediately I felt like I was wanted there. The teacher

greeted me and told me where would be a good place to sit. All of the children just looked at me

and started greeting me. All I heard is a lot of little voices saying “hi, hello, hi, hi, hi, hello.” It

was so warming. I distracted the class from what they were supposed to be doing because all the

students wanted to ask me questions and the teacher had to tell them to get back to their work.

Soon after I arrived they had to go to lunch, I stayed in the classroom to evaluate the classroom

and see the set-up of it.

The children soon returned and again they greeted me. The teacher had them finish the

assignment they were working on and gave them a new assignment, a writing assignment. Most

of the students work on the assignment quietly but there are some that are disruptive. Some of

the students work on the assignment really slow and talk to their neighbors too much. The

teacher works with a small group but is very observant and tells the students to get back to work.

In my opinion the teacher needs a teacher’s assistant; it is very hard to work with a group as you

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watch over 15 other students. Most students are done with their work and start working on fun

activities. There are a few that fall behind. One student doesn’t finish in time for restroom break

so the teacher takes the rest of the class while he stays to finish. After the restroom break I read a

book to the students and the class goes to specials. I did not follow them to specials. I was not

sure what it was or if I was allowed to follow so I end my day early on the first day.

The second day comes along I walk in sign in and walk around the halls to see the school

culture and what type of things they have on the walls. Then I check in with the teacher, no

longer nervous. I am actually excited to see the students. Per usual they see me and start greeting

me immediately. I take my seat and observe the students. There is nothing out of the ordinary

just that the kids are getting up more often, and being a little bit louder the teacher gives them

warnings to do their work and keep their voices down.

I get to the class after lunch so the students have already started working on their

assignment. There are still some students that are being disruptive, it is the same students. The

teacher is aware of that so she keeps a close eye on those students. She is working with her small

group and rotates as she continues to keep an eye on the class. I go up to one of the students and

ask if he needs any help finishing his work. I notice he has answered the math questions and cut

out the correct answers he just needs to glue them to the corresponding problems. He replies “no

its okay” and continues to walk around and talk to other students. I let his walk around because I

wanted to see what he did when it was time to turn in his work. When the teacher said “I hope

you guys are all finished, because we are doing rotations.” he rushes back to his seat and quickly

starts gluing the answers to the corresponding problem.

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They go to read aloud and I read the class a book. I love reading to them, every page I

turn they are always like “aww, so cute.” After I read I go with the class to specials. On that day

they have a physical education class. The class walks through the halls and makes their way to

the gym. The P.E. teacher explains to them what they will be doing and they go out to the

playground. The students do an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course, which is amazing.

On my last day of observation I am excited to be there. I walk in and of course all the

students greet me. I am more hands on this final day. I walk in, take my seat, and I start to walk

around the class to make sure that all the students are working. The ones that are not I ask if they

are done with their work or if they need help. The teacher notices and thanks me. When the

students saw that I was helping the teacher they started asking for help. The students needed help

for everything; some said they need help putting on band aids, some needed help fitting their

material in their box, some needed help with the classwork. Then I realize it is a domino effect.

Once you help one they all want to be helped.

On this day I go to lunch with the students. I was surprised that most students take their

own lunch. Only like 3 students get lunch from the cafeteria. The teachers sit the students

according to class and once again they need help. I help the students by giving them napkins,

opening juice or milk cartons, opening their snacks ect. During lunch the children interact with

each other but there is also other students that start asking questions. They ask if I was a teacher,

can they got o the restroom, can I go give them napkins, can I help them open their drinks ect.

After lunch the kids go to recess. I stand in the shade and watch them play with each

other. Mrs. Moses class separates and I realize the students have a lot of other friends outside of

the classroom. Some of them stick together and play but most of the students go find their friends

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and play with them instead. All of the kids interact very well. I don’t see any bullying or any

student that is alone. Everyone seems to get along and is having a good time.

At this point I am in awe with the school. Everything about the school is so organized, so

clean, no graffiti, the maintenance is kept up. Landscaping is nice, Parking is well organized and

painting is kept up with. There are decorative boards in the hallways, students work, and pictures

are displayed. There are basketball courts not missing the net, there are all kinds of different

balls, this is a very nice school. I grew up in a low income community so this is a huge

difference. It makes me really happy to see that not all children have behavior problems and that

students get to enjoy and make great memories of their time in school.

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