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Maisy Mathews

Connie Christensen

EDU 201

November 30, 2019

Field Observation Packet

Assignment #1 (Observation)

1. My first impressions of the classroom environment were that it was small and seemed

cluttered, but it also was very colorful and full of educational posters and pictures on the

wall. There were sight words, math tables such as multiplication, a calendar, numbers,

antonyms, synonyms, class rules, geometric shapes, telling time, punctuation rules, a

CCSD bullying and cyberbullying sign, and a teacher’s crisis response guide by the door.

Although there were many objects across the classroom, it was organized. The bookshelf

was extremely organized and clean, and no books were shoved or ripped.

2. The student make-up of the class when I first came into the classroom was 22 students;

13 boys and 9 girls. On my second visit Ms. Proffitt got two more students; an African

American boy and White/Caucasian girl. There was a student named Taliya who was

consistently absent and only came about 3 times a week because she frequently went to

Cali on the weekends, which made her usually absent on Mondays and Fridays, but after

a few visits with the school, she was pulled out. The 22 students made up of 1 African

American boy and 1 African American girl and the rest of the students were either

White/Caucasian or Mexican. I noticed that one boy had a lack of pigmentation in the

skin, but fortunately I did notice that it did not affect his learning within the classroom

with his peers. There were also two overweight girls and one overweight boy, but this
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characteristic didn’t affect their learning with their peers at all as well. Usually there is

always at least one student who is considered the “bad” student and Ms. Proffitt did have

a student, Montez, who gave her trouble every day, but I also found out that Montez has

ADD, anger issues, as well as behavioral issues. This has affected the classroom as a

whole every single day. He constantly lashes out, interrupts the classroom, and distracts

peers by talking to them loudly.

3. Yes, there are posted rules in front of the classroom by the teacher’s desk to the left on

the white board. The class rules are:

1. Listen when others are talking.

2. Follow directions.

3. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself.

4. Work quietly and do not disturb others.

5. Show respect for school and personal property.

6. Work and play in a safe manner.

Ms. Proffitt also applies this tactic as well; whenever the class is being loud, Ms. Proffitt

will say “waterfall” and she will begin saying “shhh” and the students will join in with

her. When she says waterfall, she wiggles her fingers downwards like a waterfall. My

first visit in the classroom she had to apply this because students were talking too loud

and it worked because the students were quiet.

4. Ms. Proffitt does enforce these rules. For example, a girl kept talking to another girl and

so the teacher told her to move to the front of the classroom on the carpet because she

was behind on her work. This reinforcement worked because the student who was moved

stopped talking and finished her work quietly.

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The rewards come in the form of a ticket. The students use these tickets to get prizes,

such as sitting with a friend or having 15 minutes of computer time. There are groups

who get tickets if everyone is good and listening. For example, two students were doing

their work and not talking so they got 5 tickets each. Another example is the teacher left

the classroom for a few minutes to go to another classroom, so I watched over the class,

and while I was doing that I told them to be as quiet as they can be so when the teacher

gets back she will be happy and reward the class with tickets. They all began to be silent

and when she got back she gave each group 1 ticket each. Another way Ms. Proffitt

rewards her students is in the form of points. Ms. Proffitt has an iPad that all of the

students are aware of. She has an app that has all of the students and she can either add or

take away a point as a whole class or individually with a student. What’s nice about this

app is parents have access to their child’s progress through this app and can see if they

are getting points or not. At the end of the month, whoever has the highest amount of

points can pick a prize. There are consequences of the tickets as well as the points. The

consequence for the tickets is a ticket will be given away if a group or student is not

listening. For example, Adam wasn’t listening, kept talking, and wasn’t paying attention

when doing a group activity with the projector and their math worksheets, so while

counting, the teacher stopped and asked the class who isn’t listening and most of the class

responded with “Adam” and pointed at him. Ms. Proffitt began to ask him to count and

say how many shirts there were within the math worksheet. The consequence worked

because he went back int focus and stopped talking. Points will be taken away if a student

isn’t listening as well as points will be given if a student is listening. For example, while

walking back to the classroom from the computer classroom, Ms. Proffitt expects
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students to be quiet, face forward, and have their arms crossed with a silent signal over

their mouth. Some students did not have that, so she took points away and when we

stopped to wait for some students to use the restroom on the way back to the classroom,

Ms. Proffitt also added points to a few students who stayed quiet and still.

Assignment #2 (Classroom Layout)

1. The workflow of the classroom was efficient and for the space Ms. Proffitt had, she used

it well and effectively. Although the classroom was small, Ms. Proffitt used up all of the

space the best way she could. Throughout my visits there, she did have to swap the desks

a few times. Since Ms. Proffitt got two more students the second visit I came, she decided

to group the tables so there could be more group work, but the students who were

consistently getting written up and didn’t listen sat in the back individually in a row. Her

concept of this was everyone sits alone except for the ones who listen 99% of the time;

they get to be in a group and sit with their friends. This is supposed to represent and

model where doing good gets you for the students who don’t listen. The far back table by

the sink is only used for when she is testing students or working with certain students on

a project or worksheet, otherwise, it isn’t used at all and that is where I sat.

2. In my opinion, the physical arrangement of the room can be improved by moving the

students’ desks from the back right of the classroom forward that way there is more room

to walk through the back of the classroom between the student’s desks and the back table

(the one that doesn’t get used and where I usually sit). I did like the new set up she did

with groups and individual desks so that students can watch and learn from the groups.
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Assignment #3 (Instruction)

1. Today’s schedule (example from Ms. Proffitt’s classroom):

Time Activity

9:15-10:10am ELA/Writing

10:10-11:00am SPECIALS

11:05-11:40am Math

11:40-12:10pm Recess + Lunch

12:15-12:45pm Math – WIN 12:45-1:15pm

1:15-1:45pm Science/SS/Health

1:45-3:20pm ELA

3:25pm Dismissal

Library: Thursday 1:45-2:15pm

Kinderbuddies: Friday @ 9:30am

Computer Lab: Tuesday (2:15pm POD) 2:30-3:20pm

Computers: 10:10-11:00am

P.E.: 10:10-11:00am

2. Instruction is delivered as a whole when transitioning to a new activity and Ms.Proffitt

will give individual instructions when needed. Whether it’s when a student isn’t listening

to instructions that are given as a class or when a student just needs some help.
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3. Ms. Proffitt’s teaching style is more of the Perennialism philosophy as well as

Postmodernism philosophy. Her curriculum consists of mainly books, textbooks, and

activities that relate to the books and textbooks. Her teaching is very structures and it’s

this way because she explained to me that when it comes to teaching third grade, it is the

foundation of Elementary School and there are many standards that need to be met in

order for students to move on to the next grade. She told me that all of her curriculum is

based off of tests that her students have to take and pass in order to move on and so it has

to be structured in order to stay on track. This grade level is strictly testing and passing

more than what other grades would be that are more flexible and are induvial based.

4. The way Ms. Proffitt incorporates the sensory modalities is in only a few ways because

her curriculum is inflexible. Visually, the teacher shows how to do an assignment by

doing it with the students under the projector machine and then she will go around the

class and help individually if needed. Auditory, she will verbally express what she

expects from the students as well as give instructions. Kinesthetically, she will provide

activities that include cutting and gluing down papers to create a fun project.

5. Most of the student’s seem engaged in the lesson(s), but a few get easily distracted. They

begin to speak with other students and/or play with an object. Ms. Proffitt gets them

redirected quickly though by using the waterfall method or counting down from five. At

least three students raise their hand to participate when it comes to classroom activities.

Only a few students are behind when the class is done with a section of the activity, but

they catch up quickly.

6. One student is isolated from everyone else; Montez. Ms. Proffitt originally put him at the

front of the classroom in the middle thinking that he would pay more attention since he’s
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right in front of the work, can focus on the teacher better, and the students are watching

him instead of Montez being distracted by everyone else. Unfortunately, it did not work

because he kept turning around and tried to entertain the class, so instead Ms. Proffitt

moved him right next to her desk that way she can keep an eye on him consistently and

she can help guide him with his work so he stays focused. Ms. Proffitt told me that he has

stabbed her before with a pencil and on my first day in her class he ripped a folder out of

another student’s hand. In order to help him, Ms. Proffitt has also allowed him to have a

friendship group on Thursday’s to help him be more kind and cooperative with others.

7. Ms. Proffitt handles transitions by saying “Okay, now we are going to…” and she’ll give

instructions on what to do next. The transitions are efficient and smooth because the

students act fast and know what to do.

8. Ms. Proffitt uses “attention getters” such as the waterfall method and counting down from

five. The “attention getters” are affective because the students get quiet and pay attention

almost immediately. It only takes a few students to tag along and listen.

9. Ms. Proffitt has to deal with Montez consistently acting out on his ADD and behavioral

issues as well as lashing out with his anger issues. She also has a few students who don’t

follow the rules and she has to keep reminding them everyday on how to behave. I also

encountered Ms. Proffitt giving a long talk with the class after lunch on my last visit

because the class got multiple write ups on students who were misbehaving in front of the

principle at lunch and not listening to anyone. She also had to discuss the issues that the

boys have been having when using the restroom. She explained that some boys have been

kicking the stall doors open, writing on the stalls, and being loud.
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10. The policies that help instructional time is using the waterfall concept when trying to give

instructions to the class. That helps students get focused for instructional time. The

students also have an automatic routine that they know what to do such as putting away

their books or whatever they were working on so that they can focus on what the teacher

wants them to do next. They work fast when putting their stuff away as well. Ms. Proffitt

usually gives instructions on what to do next while they are putting their stuff away that

way they can grab what they need next. It’s very effective and efficient that way.

Assignment #4 (Culture)

Physical Characteristics:

1 & 2. The majority of the time most Elementary Schools in Nevada look the same when it

comes to the color and structure of the building. Everything about Scherkenbach Elementary

School is welcoming, inviting, warm, clean, and organized. There are lots of trees,

playgrounds are clean and absolutely huge, especially the field, floors and bathrooms are

spotless even if students have marked up the stalls it is cleaned up, and there are never any

off smells within the building. All of the staff members are so welcoming and friendly too.

One of the things I love about this school is their favorite theme is Disney, which is awesome

because I love Disney, so the windows have painted Disney characters on them and inside

there are plenty of Disney decorations as well as the principles office too. The staff bathroom

is really nice as well. They provide Bath & Body Works lotions and mists which I love

because I can always freshen up and smell good throughout my time there. The parking lot is

convenient and easy to get to. The only issue there is temporarily is there is construction

going on by the school which makes it difficult with traffic and leaving when school is over.
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Culture of the school:

1. My great grandma and grandpa were named after this school: William and Mary

Scherkenbach Elementary School. My great grandpa was a police man and he started the

school police force in Nevada, which is why the school’s mascot is the badge (star) of

policemen and their motto is “the Scherkenbach stars”, which also implies the badge of a

policeman.

2. All staff members are so kind, welcoming, and helpful. The interactions with everyone

are respectful and appropriate. The principal is the kindest and most welcoming person I

have ever encountered, and she always has a smile on her face.

3. Overall, most student interactions with one another are positive, but some students can

have issues. I’ve noticed my interactions with the students have been positive, kind, and

informing. I noticed when I’m passing by the student’s bathrooms there are 2-3 girls

usually talking. Within the classroom there are groups that talk at their tables as well. I’ve

definitely noticed the groups that have formed within the classroom.

4. The school is organized very well and efficiently. The office is in the front, the library is

behind the office between the hallway. All of the specials are by the office in the hallway

to the left and right of the office and library. Behind the library is the huge quad area that

is exposed to outside. There are 8 classrooms within each pod; the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s

(that’s where Ms. Proffitt’s classroom was in). Th were signs everywhere of student’s

work from each pod outside of the pods in the hallways.

5. There is a ceremony I go to every year with my great grandma Mary Scherkenbach at the

end of the school year. I also noticed a sign in the hallway that was promoting the jump

rope club as well as a food drive sign. My last day at Scherkenbach the front desk lady
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showed me how cute the new garden club shirts are as well and I think it’s great that

there is a garden club too.

Culture of the classroom:

1. Ms. Proffitt expects a lot from her students as a third-grade teacher because she has to

prepare them extra hard to be ready to pass the tests that they have to take in order t go to

fourth grade. She has to involve the students in a ton of studying, testing, and keeping in

contact with parents to make sure they are on board with their child as well in order to get

them where they need to be.

2. Ms. Proffitt tries to get all of the students involved equally either in a group or

individually. One of the students named Montez is now moved next to the teacher so that

the teacher can talk to him and guide him when needed. It keeps him in check that way he

can’t keep getting out of his seat and goofing off.

3. Ms. Proffitt is always helpful and instructive with the students. She was very kind,

respectful, and nice with me as well. She was helpful and very open about her work. She

is also always constantly watching and engaging the students by making eye contact,

redirecting them to their work by using the waterfall method or counting down to five,

and she is constantly observing her students.

Assignment #5 (Cooperating Teacher Interview)

1. The primary reason I became a teacher was to help students achieve and see them develop in

all areas. I love working with children and seeing those "aha" moments.

2. The biggest challenges today are getting parents actively involved in their student's education.
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3. Again, the best part of being a teacher is to see the growth and the moments that a student

"gets it".

4. I change students around a lot in my classroom. I like for them to get to know as many of their

peers as possible. I also take into consideration IEP's, vision issues, and struggling students.

5. I utilize assessment results to help me group students.

6. I interact with parents via DOJO almost daily and then I have had conferences when needed

and of course required parent teacher conferences.

7. I grade 6-10 assignments a week, on average.

8. It usually takes about 2 hours to prepare lessons for the week.

9. I keep transitions to a minimum. I have the students in teams and I give team points to the

team that is ready first. So students are quick to get their materials out and show me they are

ready to move on.

10. I use tickets, team points, DOJO points, on a regular basis.

11. They have access to my DOJO points and can give and take points as needed. I also

consult them if we have a unit that I can tie some cross curricular activities into.

12. I am evaluated 1X per year, however the principal and AP do visit our rooms more

frequently. The tool used is the NEPF.

13. Not sure... as I have not experienced this.

14. The biggest surprise is the lack of parent involvement and the lack of motivation by the

students to challenge themselves and improve their grades.

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Assignment #6 (Observing a Student)

I observed a student named Paige who has a hard time with reading. According to Ms.

Proffitt her level is close to first grade reading and her younger sister can read better than

her. The class was reading from their textbooks and during the classroom discussion

about the textbook she was asked to read one of the paragraphs. She began, but had a

hard time reading the word “always” and every other student had to help her together as a

class. Ms. Proffitt said she’s not sure if she has a disability just yet or she just tries to get

by and not really choose to grasp the concepts and that’s why she is struggling over small

stuff. She needs extra time at school and especially at home with her sight words ad

reading overall. Ms. Proffitt shared that she had Paige read to her one-on-one and Paige

couldn’t even recognize and say the word “around”, which appeared in the book

frequently. Ms. Proffitt even showed me the book to observe and she also explained how

Paige follows instructions well and knows what to do just she has a hard time actually

doing the work and understanding it.

Assignment #7 (Summary)

After thoroughly studying and reflecting upon my entire 10 hours on my field

observation, I can say I have learned, realized, absorbed, and recognized so much about teachers,

students, instruction, the school environment, and so much more. I learned that teaching is fun,

exciting, new every day, and interesting, but it can also be very challenging. I noticed there were

times where Ms. Proffitt could have used a break or when she had a hard time getting the

students to follow basic rules or even just having one student who consistently throughout the

day gave her the toughest situations to be in as a teacher with their students such as that student

not listening, constantly getting up, and putting people in danger with their aggressive outbreaks.
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Being a teacher is extremely tough, but it is so rewarding. I have learned so much from Ms.

Proffitt, the students, and overall the school as a whole. How it runs, operates, and functions is in

itself extremely complicated and amazing at the same time. I love the environment of the school

and it makes me happy being there. This observation has prepared me for the better when it

comes to understanding the teaching profession because it is so different to experience just

slightly what the teacher goes through daily than just reading off of a textbook. I am thankful I

got to study how children behave within a third-grade classroom, how the teacher handles it, and

what I wouldn’t do compared to what the teacher does. I’ve learned a lot of great things, but I

have also learned how I want to run my classroom my way. What I do and don’t want to do

within the field and how I want to operate my classroom has definitely been influenced by this

school in a positive way. This observation is just a huge reflection of what the textbook teaches

us. I have applied so much knowledge from my textbook to the classroom and it helped me in

many situations. The textbook helped me be able to look at a student and see more than just a

child sitting in their seat and I am incredibly thankful I got to experience that hands-on multiple

times within the classroom. The ideas on teaching I will remember to include in my future

classroom is the waterfall method. I think that is a great way to get students to be quiet and get

back into being engaged. I also will apply experiments with classroom set ups than just sticking

to one set up. I think when Ms. Proffitt kept rearranging the classroom every few weeks to try

something new with the student’s behavior, I thought that was really effective and efficient. It

helped all around for the teacher and the students because they got to try something new for

themselves that might work better for them when it comes to learning and doing their work and

that of course helps the teacher out tremendously. Overall, I am so happy I got to experience this,
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and I will never forget it. I will definitely apply this knowledge for my future and I cannot wait

to do so.