FIELD OBSERVATION

Taylor Brown

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 203
 When reflecting on my observation experience, I feel as if the book taught me more

fundamentals than I was able to take away from the field observation experience. I believe if I

had more time in the classroom, I would have been able to compare more. Upon entering the

school, I was greeted warmly by the front desk staff. I was brought back to my cooperating

teacher’s classroom where I was introduced to her and the students. As I began going through

my field observation packet, I asked Mrs. Schuldt if she had any students with IEP’s. She

responded with stating that she has one IEP student and three ELL students in her classroom. She

also has a group of four students who come in four days a week for a half hour to read and

practice their fluency with her.

The student who has an IEP has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She was not

pulled out from the general education classroom at any time. As stated in the text, “Including

students with ADHD in the general education classroom is just the right thing to do. A pull-out

or resource room setting typically does not benefit these students. Best practices,

accommodations, and a great deal of patience are all that is usually required.” (Gargiulo, pg.

274).

She displayed many of the typical ADHD characteristics during my ten hours of field

observation. She had a hard time staying focused with the rest of the class, she verbally and

physically interrupts conversations and activities, and shows strong difficulty in independently

adjusting her behavior. For example, it was time for them to do their independent reading, and

the class rule is one book per student at a time, Aria insisted on having two books. Mrs. Schuldt

repeatedly asked her to put one of the books away and Aria proceeded to throw a tantrum. Mrs.

Schuldt then began to ignore her until she went and sat down. During the independent reading

time is when the four students come into her classroom for reading and fluency practice. Mrs.
Schuldt explained that when I become a teacher there will be times where a student is disrupting

the rest of the class and I will have to decide to let the student hash it out on their own or

continue arguing with the said student while disrupting the learning environment for the other 25

students.

Along with Aria’s IEP form, every week Mrs. Schuldt fills out a form that answers

whether she complied to classroom rules, if she was disruptive, and if she stayed on task. After

independent reading was over, Mrs. Schuldt called Aria to her desk and asked if she thought she

deserved a thumbs up for her behavior, and Aria told her yes and didn’t understand what she did

wrong. Mrs. Schuldt told me this is a very typical behavior for Aria, especially because they had

a guest in the classroom, and it was picture day that day. Therefore, the setting of the classroom

was different from what she is used to.

Mrs. Schuldt did mention another student briefly that she believed to be mildly autistic,

however, she said that sometimes you have parents who are in denial about these things. In this

student’s case, the mother is in denial and doesn’t believe there is anything that needs to be done

with her child as far as an IEP. Mrs. Schuldt has had meetings with both the mother and the

father of this student but neither of them seem to understand the depth of help their son needs.

The parent’s denial could be a stage of parental reaction to the thought of their son having

a disability. As stated in our text, “The initial response is often one of shock and disbelief;

parents are poorly prepared, in most instances, for the news of their child’s disability. Parents

will sometimes evidence denial as a form of escape from the reality of the disability. The

primary phase is also characterized by grief, as parents mourn the loss of their “ideal child” or

“perfect baby.” (Gargiulo, pg. 117)

 What I did learn more of throughout my field observation experience included questions I

asked about the profession itself, observing another teacher’s education style (that was a night

and day difference from my cooperating teacher for EDU 201), and how to manage a classroom.

For example, the interview questions, in my opinion, are one of the best parts about the packet. I

was interested to see what Mrs. Schuldt’s feelings were regarding these questions and how they

compared to the previous cooperating teacher’s answers.

One answer that they mutually agreed on was “What surprised you most about teaching

as a profession?” Mrs. Schuldt answered, “Parents. I am surprised at how uninvolved parents are

at my school. They will do the minimum, which is meet at parent teacher conferences, but

sometimes it is a real struggle to have them participate or get involved in classroom activities,

field trips, volunteer, etc. The longer I am a teacher I can say the parent involvement has greatly

declined.” Verbally, she went as far to state that from when she first began teaching at Kesterson

Elementary, she would’ve put parental involvement at a solid eighty-percent. However, over the

years she has seen a rapid decline; now she says parental involvement is at about twenty-percent

(if she is lucky).

My previous cooperating teacher stated the same opinion and added that parents showing

up to meet and greet night is dwindling as well. This worries me for my future as an educator. I

can’t imagine parents not being involved in the child’s education. Growing up, my mom was

always involved in mine and my sister’s education, extra-curricular activities, homework, grades,

etc. To think that we live in a world now that education is being placed on the back burner is a

scary thought.

Following the topic of the interview questions, I also received a substantial amount of

information regarding how much time is spent on lesson planning, what kind of procedures or
strategies are used to maximize instructional time, and what positive reinforcement programs

have been successful; along with what behavioral consequences seem most effective at this grade

level. When it comes to lesson planning, Mrs. Schuldt explained that each lesson is different. She

stated, “It ranges. I can take an hour to prepare all my lesson plans for all subjects, or it can take

a weekend. It depends on how purposeful I am planning for students and paying attention to my

questioning techniques.” Verbally she explained to me that my first couple years of teaching I

should be more in detail with my lesson plans. She said over the years I will get used to the

lesson planning and it will just come to me naturally.

As far as what kind of procedure or strategies are used to maximize instructional time,

Mrs. Schuldt said, “At the beginning of the year and right after long breaks we practice every

procedure in our classroom and in the school hallways. From how to transition from center

rotations, to line up, walking in the hall, to eyes on the speaker are all enforced in the classroom

and in the school. A procedure must be in place for all students from the beginning of the year to

the last day of school so that instructional time is not wasted.”

Watching the way her students transitioned was incredible. I was able to attend specials

with them, I watched both art and music, and both days the students lined up and were quiet the

whole way to their special’s classroom. They behaved in this manner throughout both classes,

that’s when I started to really take notice in the rest of the school. Most students I witnessed

walking through the halls acted this way as well. I was thoroughly impressed being that most of

the students were third grade and below that I saw.

The positive reinforcement programs and behavioral consequences Mrs. Schuldt

described as most useful were, “Our school uses a positive reinforcement program called the

Kesterson Code. The school is divided up into ‘houses” like Harry Potter. The house are able to
earn house points during the school day for a variety of things; academics and/or behavior. This

is implemented school-wide.

The behavioral consequences for 3rd grade seem to be a bit more challenging than

primary grades. I do not believe in a “clip” system, which I see primary teachers use. This would

not be effective in my classroom. I will remove a student from a center, I will take away

technology if they are not using it properly, I will have students in for recess for bad behavior or

making poor choices.”

Another topic we spoke about was cooperative teaching. Mrs. Schuldt and another third-

grade teacher work together on lesson plans, and specialist teachers are involved in the

instructional planning process. For example, “Art, PE, Music, and Library specials occasionally

involved in my planning process. Every once in while if I have a project that I am working on in

my classroom, I can ask them to do a lesson that “piggybacks” off what I am doing. Most

specialist at my school are flexible with helping with large projects to get the full picture of

different ways to interpret learning.”

As far as the verbal portion of the question, Mrs. Schuldt stated that her and another

third-grade teacher collaborate frequently. I would put their co-teaching style under somewhat of

a team-teaching, except they are in their own classrooms with separate groups of students. As

stated in our text, successful co-teaching for working with general education teachers means

“Finding teachers who welcome your students and whom you enjoy working with if possible. It

is helpful to find co-teachers who have different strengths so you can compliment each other.

Faithfully plan with these teachers- at least a week in advance and keep communication open and

frequent. Use positive language with each other as much as possible. Brainstorm solutions to
challenges together and try different solutions.” (Gargiulo, pg. 27) These examples in the book

described their co-teaching style perfectly.

In conclusion, what I learned from this class and from my field observation experience I

will take with me for the rest of my life. I feel that I have a far better understanding of special

education as a whole, and what each disability, disorder, and/or impairment consists of.
 Work Cited

Gargiulo, Richard M., and Emily C. Bouck. Special Education in Contemporary Society: an
Introduction to Exceptionality. 6th ed., SAGE Publications, 2018.