Steve Phillips EDUC 300 FIELD EXPERIENCE NEWSLETTER FALL ...stevephillyed.weebly.com/.../18724792/...notebook.docx · Web viewThe classroom rules were by the doors written in magic

TIONTIONSteve Phillips EDUC 300 FIELD EXPERIENCE NEWSLETTER FALL 2014 EDITION

Steve PhillipsEDUC 300 Field Experience Newsletter

Terrasett ES Times Newsletter Fall 2014 Edition__________________________________________________________________

Introduction of my Field JournalI completed field experience for my EDUC 300

Introduction to Teaching class at Terrasett Elementary School (Terrasett ES). Terrasett ES is located in Reston, Virginia off Ridge Heights Road. Terrasett ES is part of the Fairfax County School system. Terrasett ES is not a magnet or charter school. Terrasett ES’s mission is to “Demonstrate a personal commitment to achieve academic excellence for all students.”1 Principal Lindsay Trout stands by that by saying, “This is a very special school. The families and teachers are

here because THIS IS EXACTLY THE SETTING THEY WANT TO BE IN.”2 Trout (2014) According to the National Center for Educational Statistics3 Terrasett has 469 students with an average of 67 students per grade. Terrasett ES has a student to teacher ratio of 14.16. Terrasetts mascot is the tiger. I observed a total of fifteen hours in seven sessions.

I observed a fifth grade class. The class had 20-25 students in attendance. The class was team taught by a primary teacher, Julie Damond and a special education assistant Beth Byrum. The subjects I observed were world history, math, and language arts. I used a wide range of observation tools like running records, rating scales, and graphs to represent what I observed in the lessons. First, I evaluated the classroom environment. I recorded a Bloom’s Taxonomy survey to better understand the class reading material. I spent some time in another classroom to compare how accurate my fifth grade classroom was with the overall make-up of the school. I investigated what types of ethnicities were in my class. I estimated how much my teacher used Blooms’ Taxonomy method of figuring out classroom concepts.

10/07/2014 Field Experience #1 the Classroom Environment

1 Terrasett Elementary School Reston, Virginia http://www.fcps.edu/TerrasetES/index.html2 On Line interview with Principal Lindsay Trout – November 18, 20143 National Center For Education Statistics - http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?ID=510126000573

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I had my first field experience at Terrasett ES. My classroom was outside in a trailer. The trailer had three doors. Two doors led to an outside blacktop. The other door in the class led to an adjoining classroom. The class was filled with furniture. The class had about twenty wooden desks that were neatly arranged into columns and rows. The desks had black bins underneath where they kept books, pencils, and papers. There were two teachers desks on the side. The classroom walls were filled with Math and English posters, like geometry angles and a word-find poster. The classroom rules were by the doors written in magic marker on laminated tan sheets. In the center of the room was a large Smartboard. A black clock hung on top of the board. On the side of the board was a monthly calendar and a homework schedule. On the far side was a series of wooden cubbies where coats and bags were neatly hung. A black cart was in the back with several history textbooks on it. It was a successful first day. I was able to introduce myself to the class and observe the environment so I could accurately assess the students and their performance.

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10/10/2014 Field Experience #2 - Classroom Minority Evaluation

I took an observation of what ethnicities were represented in the classroom. The ethnicity most represented in the classroom was black (African-American) with six. Second were four white students. There were also four Hispanic students, and two Latino students. The statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) does not confirm the data for my fifth grade class. According to NCES, whites are the majority student population. The races in my class do not reflect the school’s statistics that said white was the majority.

10/10/2014 General Observation: Working in Small Groups

A boy and a girl were doing a math lesson together. They were doing a decimal lesson with small counting blocks. The students were using the evaluate and create levels of

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Bloom’s Taxonomy. The students were using evaluate stage; worksheet shading hundred square blocks to create decimals and fractions. The students used counting cubes to find the differences between units of tens. They had a yellow square block that had a hundred squares, their job was to put a few blue squares on their yellow pad to create a three dimensional model of a fraction. The class was practicing the evaluate and create stages of Bloom’s. The students were evaluating their knowledge of fractions, while creating a three dimensional model.

10/10/2014 General Observation: Working in Small Groups (Continued)

In social studies, the class started their Mesopotamia map project. The students worked in small groups to create a map of Ancient Mesopotamia. The students mainly made their maps out of equipment that the teachers put on the shoebox. The box had materials of scissors, construction paper, glue, and a magic marker. Some students used the map in their textbooks as a guide to create their own. Some students talked with each other to get ideas for making their map. The students created a list of things they needed on a map; like a legend, key, and compass. For this assignment, the students were using the combination of the “create and evaluate” stages of Blooms. (See Rubric next page).

Sample of Rubric from the Class

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Write and illustrate a poem about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their importance to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia.

Write a flood diary! Describe in vivid detail what happens before, during and after the flood. Your diary should be illustrated.

Make a physical map of ancient Mesopotamia using salt dough. Compare the physical features to those in the earliest United States settlement (Jamestown!)

What is a ziggurat? Find out, design one, and share with the class. Your ziggurat must be 3-D! Then film your structure, explaining it to your audience.

Create a 3-4 slide presentation explaining laws in ancient Mesopotamia. One of your slides must be a T-Chart comparing Hammurabi’s code laws in modern America.

Create, perform, and film a skit showing a Mesopotamian priest-king ruling his people, or the role of priests and priestesses.

Draw a diagram of a Phoenician marketplace. Your diagram should be detailed and must contain labels and captions. Film your picture, and explain your thinking orally.

Write a radio, TV, or print ad selling one of the many Mesopotamian inventions. Persuade us to buy it! Film your ad.

Compare Gilgamesh to the Superhero of your choice. Superman, Percy Jackson, Wonder Woman? Complete the comparison chart and also show your thinking with illustrations.

Historian’s Name: _____________________________________________

I chose these three activities:

1. _________________________________________

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10/14/2014 Field Experience #3 - Interaction with Students

Today, I was able to informally interview a student that was doing a math on-line exercise. I was able to have a five minute conversation with him. I had a quality conversation as I recorded and played questions with my communication device. I asked him questions like “How long have you played this game?”, “What do you like about it?” and “What is your biggest goal with this?”. He answered my questions in a timely manner while he was working. He explained everything to me quickly and with a few detailed comments. This interaction most likely involved the analysis stage of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I was able to analyze the student’s thought process of thinking how this exercise will help him achieve his goal for the school year.

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10/17/2014 Field Experience #4 - Classroom Comparison and Contrast

Ms. Damon’s ClassMs. Damon’s Class Mr. Millar’s ClassMr. Millar’s ClassChairs with desk in rowsChairs with desk in rowsTwo teachers desksTwo teachers desksMath, reading postersMath, reading postersSmartboard Smartboard TextbooksTextbooksCubbies neatCubbies neat2 doors in the room2 doors in the room

Textbooks in rowsTextbooks in rowsOne teachers deskOne teachers deskShelves with chapter booksShelves with chapter booksTextbooks on desksTextbooks on desksSmartboard Smartboard Clean White boardsClean White boardsTwo doors n the roomTwo doors n the room

One less teachers deskWhiteboards

Both had textbooksSmartboard in center of room

Today, I compared two classroom environments in my school. Both classes were in trailers outside of the main school building. Both classrooms had mostly the same equipment. The rooms had desks, chairs, Smartboards, whiteboards, textbooks, cubbies, and a teacher’s desk. The classrooms had different organizations. Ms. Damon’s cubbies were neat and organized. Mr. Millar’s cubbies were less organized with coats on the floor, higher-level books on his shelf, and less colorful posters on his walls. This was a good opportunity for me to examine how different the teaching styles were working together in the school.

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0/21/2014 Field Experience #5- Participation Frequency Count

Boy 1 Boy 2 Girl 1 Girl 22 3 4 1

Today I evaluated how often four students participated in a large group English lecture. I evaluated two boys and two girls who were in the back of the class. I did a frequency count to see how often they participated in the large group discussion on an upcoming social studies project on Hanirobi. Boy 1 raised his hand to speak twice. Boy 1 answered the teacher in short phrases. A second boy (Boy 2) raised his hand three times. He answered two questions and he had one comment. A girl (Girl 1) raised her hand four times. She gave the teacher a correct answer with a expanding side comment. A second girl (Girl 2) raised her hand once for a side comment. This lesson probably had elements of the analyze and evaluate stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students had to analyze who Hanirobi was for the teacher to understand their prior knowledge of their new subject.

11/05/2014 Field Experience #6- Classroom Bloom’s Taxonomy

Today in my class, I evaluated what stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy my teacher used during a math lesson. I rated the elements of Blooms Taxonomy. I evaluated how much the teacher seemed to use the stages in her classroom. I rated how the stages on a one to ten scale. (one being the least, ten being the most.) The stage that was most relevant was the “apply” stage. My teacher used a motto “I write, you write.” To have the students focus on their comprehension skills. She was getting them to take her instruction and apply it to their worksheets that they filled out. The stage that was use the least was the “create” stage. The class was writing most of the same answers, that she wrote on the board. I was able to see how the method of Bloom’s Taxonomy can work in a real classroom environment.

11/5/2014 - Class Looks Like and Sounds Like

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Teacher Sounds Teacher Looks Students Sounds Student LooksGet going, you needYou know lots moreShow your workDo you know that?Write as a fractionTry that again Please read that

Turning headDrawing visual diagramsAttempts to get eye contact from studentsDraws the same diagram in another column

Answers questionsAsks, “What are we doing again?”Small comments “I know why”Why did I pick that?Shouts out yes and no

Everybody watches boardShouts out yes and noFocuses on the computer screenLooks at and counts quarters

Today I observed how the students reacted to their teachers’ instruction style. I organized a chart to describe how the teachers and students reacted to one another in a lecture. The class was doing a math lesson on adding, multiplying, subtracting, and dividing fractions. The teacher walked around the room with an authoritative mood. She kept turning her head to make sure her students were writing notes down and looking at the board. She asked questions about her work to make sure the students understood what they were doing. This is a combination of the remember and evaluate stage of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students were trying to remember how to add and subtract fractions while the teacher evaluated how well they knew the key math concepts.

Field Experience #7 – November 11, 2014 Getting to Talk

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At my last day at Terrasett, I observed how much three students participated in the front row of the room. I did this in an earlier session with the back row of the classroom. This time, I recorded this for students that were in front of the room. The class was in small groups during math time . The class was reviewing operations with fractions. Each student was solving problems on their whiteboards. Student 1 raised his hand six times, answering all six questions correctly. Student two raised her hand three times with three side comments. Student three raised her hand four times when she was called on by the teacher. I did this earlier. Observing how students participate is a key indicator for how students are able to develop their soc al skills for learning how to socialize with others in future classes.

Summary Reflection

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My experience at Terrasett Elementary School (Terrasett ES) WAS quite the

success . The class accepted me very warmly. I was able to experience a real

classroom environment. I attempted to use several observation tools to gather

information about my classroom; like a written summary, a rating scale, a

comparison and contrast chart to represent my data. I was able to record my data

accurately from the class. I felt confident in what I was observing and I was able

to comprehend it to the best of my ability. This caringly helped me picture what

my classroom might look like. My experience was a total success for my class and

developing as a professional.

Source: http://yourstudentbody.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/inspirational-education-quotes-albert-einstein.jpg

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Steve Phillips EDUC 300 FIELD EXPERIENCE NEWSLETTER FALL ...stevephillyed.weebly.com/.../18724792/...notebook.docx · Web viewThe classroom rules were by the doors written in magic