Mariana Campos M.

Field Observation Assignments

A1:

1. The classroom is very welcoming and warm. Decor is very bright and colorful, lights are

hung up around the classroom .There are a couple of bulletin boards that are decorated

and eye-catching. There were 12 girls and 5 boys in the classroom. Most students are

hispanic, there were 3 white students, 2 african american, and 2 asian students. None are

ELL or have physical challenges. There were no posted rules in the classroom. When

asked why she said she told them the rules at the beginning of the year. She does enforce

them and students do learn her rules over time. I am not aware if any awards or

consequences are used for compliance or noncompliance.

A2:

A3:

1. Odd Day: Period 1: Prep

Period 3: Methods in Teaching (magnet class)

Period 7: Algebra 1-CC (Co-taught, ⅔ gen. Ed., ⅓ special ed.)

Even Day: Period 2: Algebra 1-CC

Period 4: Algebra 1-CC

Period 6: Algebra 1-CC

Period 8: Pre-Algebra Block

2. Instruction is done in whole groups or whole class, then they can work individually or

with partners.

3. Students begin with a warm up, she then has students answer the warm up on the board.

They then do a joke of the day, she starts the lesson by going over the objectives, she

does a quick review of the previous lesson, now she begins the new lesson by going over

new terms, she does an example and keeps moving through the lesson. She then explains

the homework and gives an exit ticket problem to finish the class.

4. Her teaching style is hands-on and very focused on creating relationships.

5. She does incorporate learning styles, she does hands on, in her TEACH class she does but

not so much in her algebra classes. Math is very different to modify learning styles into

the lesson plans.

6. She goes under progressivism, she thinks people should be able to grow, change, etc.

7. To meet the needs of today's culturally diverse student population she makes references

to today's topics to relate to her students. Her class decor is bright but makes students feel

welcomed and accepted.

8. Some students are paying attention to the teacher presenting the lesson, while others are

not and are engaged by their phones, peers talking, or just in their own world during the
 lesson. Those who are paying attention are taking notes, answering questions, and

following along. There are very few that don't care enough to be there.

9. Instructional time is used pretty efficiently. She and the students move pretty quickly

through warm-ups, examples, and lesson terms. The class is 75-90 minutes long so she

gives about 5 minutes for warm ups and then the main part of class moves through the

rest of time. Last 10 minutes are for homework explanations and exit tickets.

10. The teacher uses her white board and projector to follow the lesson. The students have

laptops to do certain assignments after the lesson, or use them to follow along on the

powerpoint. She uses powerpoints to present lessons.

11. The teacher reminds students when there are a couple of minutes of class left and has

them start cleaning up to move periods. When the bell rings students leave to their next

class some stay behind until the halls clear out a bit. When the new class comes in she

gives them a couple of minutes to settle before she begins instruction. I think they are

efficient because she doesn't rush students around.

12. She walks in front of the class and the students know to quiet down. She taps on

shoulders/desks to regain their attention. She also claps her hands when she is ready to

get serious and the class gathers back in.

13. She deals with many unmotivated students and unprepared students. She deals with them

by motivating them by giving them nice compliments and creating goals with them.

14. When students come in late the teacher has to stop instruction to send them to the office

for a tardy pass. The policy hinders instructional time especially when she needs to stop

whatever she's doing to deal with the late students.

A4:
Physical Characteristics:

1. There really are no windows except for exit doors, the building is very dull although it

does have some school spirit art murals around some areas. They have minimal desert

plants around school grounds, lots of rocks, and there is a lot of fencing around the school

trying to keep students from ditching. There are some trees in the front of the school.

There isn’t much comfort coming from the school. There are four crosswalks around the

school on all four corners. From the outside there is the theater sign, school name signs.

2. In the interior the halls are beige and floors are a pale yellow all throughout. The lighting

is pretty bright throughout the school. Some walls in hallways have bulletin boards,

pictures of students, and murals. There is entrance security and hall monitors.

Culture of School:

1. Moto: Respect the C. Communicate Lead by example Accomplish desired goals Respect

others and yourself Keep striving to improve.

Mission statement: Our Mission is to Educate and Inspire. Each Student for. College and Career

Readiness.

Mascot: Is a black charger horse

2. Interactions between the visitors and staff are very short and to the point. Sometimes

they'd be busy and would take some time to help you. Interactions between students and

faculty are different. Some students have close relationships with hall monitors, security,

and staff around the school. Other students walk just straight to classes without talking to

anyone.

3.
The grouping of students depends on their levels in mathematics, language arts, and choice of

electives. It does use inclusion for students in special education, for pull-out they give them a

class period with other students in similar levels.

4. Students mainly gather together in the school's main hallway, cafeteria, and near

restrooms and exit doors.

5. They have their charger pride song listen in the gymnasium, they do a daily Clark TV

news broadcast where they talk about updates on athletics, student achievements and

awards, and upcoming events. They have a computer hall sponsored by Jimmy Kimmel,

an alumni of Clark High School. They have a trophy case showcasing all their greatest

achievements.
 6. They continue to grow their school pride. Over the years they continue many traditions

like singing the charger pride song, by doing dances together to cheers. They continue the

black and gold spirit days.

Culture of Classroom:

1. Teachers' expectations are for all students to succeed, they interact with their students

very well and they each have their own relationship with the kids.

2. Very few students participate in class. I think the more confident in their work students

participate and if the teacher forces the other students to participate then they have to.

3. Some teachers do use their authoritative power over the students a little too much while

others use it only when needed. Some have a rude tone which makes students back away

and keep their relationship limited. While other teachers have a softer tone and the

students then feel more comfortable.

A5:

1. Her mother was the reason why she became a teacher. She saw the difference she made

with her students and wanted to be like that and make an impact.

2. Main challenges she faces as a teacher are lack of follow through from the school and

lack of parental involvement.

3. Best part of being a teacher is helping a student realize and tap into their true potential.

4. She first lets them decide where to sit to get to know them, she then switches them with

mixed abilities.

5. She determines by their abilities and behavioral characteristics.

6. On a regular bases she uses formative assessments, mainly to practice with constantly

doing it to help them learn.

8. Rarely in person, text message once a quarter. Other than that not too many parents get

back to have a discussion over their student.

9. Student aides grade formative, the teacher grades summative, she does daily spot checks

as well.

10. Depends on the lesson and how intense it is so usually about 5-10 hours weekly.

11. Using a timer tends to help stay on track and get through more.

12. Detentions and phone calls home for consequences, positive reinforcement is star of the

week, positive affirmations, stickers.

13. Everything in Algebra.

14. The CC teacher is not involved in the planning process.

15. Once a year, the measurement tool used is the NEPF.

16. Probation and interventions.

17. School- sends you to conferences, Admin- always says yes to help.

18. How much busy work there is and wasteful paperwork.

A6:

During this observation of the student, I was sitting in an area next to them and their table. The

lesson the teacher was presenting was for their Methods in Teaching class and they were going

over ways to show appreciation to a new teacher every week, and students need to do research on

ideas and create a document to share with the class. During the lesson, the student seemed bored

and distracted by their phone and laptop. They were also having side conversations with their

peers at their table. I noticed there was a peer to their left who kept interrupting the teacher and

the student I was observing would look annoyed with that other student. During all of this the
teacher kept asking students to please pay attention due to this being important. She would clap

her hands to get them to wake up a bit and the student I was observing would then zone back in

to what the teacher was saying. This would only last for a second because she would then look

back down at her phone on the table and mess with things in front of her on the table. The

teacher did call them out at some point and asked to repeat back what the teacher wanted from

them and the student was able to repeat the directions back. Although she was distracted and

seemed like she was bored, she was listening. If I put myself in the students point of view I

would have heard what was expected from us in this lesson and then I know I would have zoned

out like the student. The teacher did get off task at time because some students would interrupt

with things off topic or with questions on the assignment. To this I could see why students would

zone out after a while.

A7:

Overall, during my observation I learned and saw many things in this classroom. I got to know

my assigned teacher in the interview I got to do with her. I found out what her biggest reason to

become a teacher was, she explained to me the way her classroom works and I got to see it first

hand. I got to learn more about teacher evaluations and what happens if they aren’t satisfied with

what they saw. I got to look into the school culture a bit deeper, I am a Clark alumni yet going

back I saw it from a totally different perspective than I did when I went there. Many things have

changed since I graduated and the school does run differently, like the bell schedule and the clark

tv news and how involved it is in the school day. The CTV news we would only watch on

Fridays but now they watch it on Wednesdays and teachers must lose part of their class period to

show it and create a lesson off of it. I got to observe the students in a different manner as well
during my time there. Each student is very different, they each interact with each other and the

teacher differently. Some are attentive while others aren’t so much.