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Field Experience Visits
The
M201 Home Page contains general information about your field experience,
including your responsibilities—before, during, and after your visit
to the school. For details, go to: M201
Home Page
First
Visit—Observation,
information gathering, and 10 minute icebreaker activity.
On
your first “official” visit to your field site—remember,
you should have already met with or talked to your cooperating teacher
informally—you will by observing your host teacher teach, and you
will meet your students. You are not there to judge the students or teachers.
Anything you see or hear should remain confidential. Be prepared to conduct
a 10-minute icebreaker activity in order to get to know your students.
Making name tags is one example of an icebreaker. This is also a good
time to start pre-assessing what your students already know and are
interested in learning in both mathematics and science. A formal lesson
plan is not required, although I will review your lesson plan if you ask
me to do so.
Classroom
Observation Guidelines.
The goal of your first visit to your field site is to get to know the
students, the teacher, and the feel of the classroom. It is important
to observe and to critique what you see, but not to judge either the
students or the teacher. What you hear and see is confidential and
should remain so. Use the following questions to guide your thinking:
Go to a Microsoft Word™
print version of this form: Observation
Form
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Name
_________________________________ xxxxxx#
________ xxxzxxDate
____________
Teacher ________________________________ xxxGrade
______ xxzzxxTime ____________
I. Learning Task
- What
was the lesson or learning task?
- What
do you think the teacher’s objective was?
II.
Teaching Strategies
- What
strategy(s) did the teacher use to put across the learning task?
____ teacher directed
____ general class discussion ____ small groups ____ inquiry/question
____ individual instruction
____ role playing ____ student work time ____ class/group projects
____ other:
- How
did the teacher guide learning task(s)? ____ posed questions ____
answered students’ questions
____ assigned drill/practice ____ student or teacher application
of learning to other situation(s)
____ used tools (manipulatives, calculators, overheads, computers,
etc.) ____ other:
- What
form(s) of motivation were used? ____ friendly atmosphere ____
threats/punishment
____ apprised students of their progress (orally) ____ apprised
students their of progress (written)
____ progress charts ____ positive reward system ____ other:
- How
did teacher assess students/class? ____ walked around room checking
student’s group/written work
____ survey/show of hands ____ KWHL ____ test/quiz ____ other:
- Did
teacher’s assessment of individual students/class appear
to alter the instruction? How?
III.
Learning Environment
- What
type of learning atmosphere prevailed? ____ formal ____ informal
____ noisy ____ calm
____ passive ____ active ____ tense ____ relaxed ____ other:
- Did
the students appear to be: ____ on-task ____ off-task ____ cooperative
___ uncooperative
____ interested ____ bored ___ respectful ____ disrespectful ____
comfortable ____ anxious
- What
factors (established routines, teaching style, special events,
personalities, outside distractions, seating arrangements, temperature,
lightening, etc.,) might account for the general learning environment?
IV.
Classroom Questions
- Where
questions clear worded? ________ Who asked the questions? _____________________________
Who answered the questions? ___________________________ What was
the wait time? _____________
- What
types of questions were asked? ____ recall/review ____ opinions/feelings
____ open-ended
____ compare/contrast ____ analysis of data ____ metacognitive—“What
was your thinking?”
- How
detailed were answers? __________________ Was an explanation of
answers ask for? __________
Were ALL students involved in the question asking/answering process?
____________________________
- What
was the reaction to “unique” answers?
- How
did this questioning “style” affect the learning?
Your
Reflections
Where
there additional observations that should be noted? What made them
notable?
What teaching strategies or techniques appeared to be most effective?
What is the basis for your claim?
What
teaching strategies/techniques appeared to be less effective? What
is the basis for your claim?
What
did you observe that might impact your teaching? How might it affect
your teaching?
Do
you have any other thoughts, feelings, observations, or reflections
about what you observed?
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Peer
Observation.
It is also recommend that you observe one or more of your TEAMmates during
the semester, and to ask to be observed by a TEAMmate.
Master teacher learn about teaching by observing others teach and by being
observed. Get in the habit of doing this early in your career. To
facilitate this type of peer observation, go to a Microsoft
Word™ print version of a form to assist you with: Peer
Observation.
Planning
Your Field Experience Lessons
Mathematics
Lessons. On your first visit to your field site, try
to access your students’ understanding of the mathematics topics
you will be teaching. I suggest you begin with simple activities in
order to assess where your students are in terms of their understanding
and ability to communicate mathematically. Ideas for lessons can be
found in your E343 textbook, on a variety of web sites (click here to
go the E343 Resource Page),
and from K-6 textbooks and supplementary materials available in the
School of Education Library or at the public library. In addition,
I have a large personal collection of mathematics teaching materials
and you are welcome to make use of them.
Science
Lessons. In order
to create effective inquiry-based science lessons, you need to be able
to recognize students’ incomplete conceptions, alternative conceptions,
and misconceptions. You may do this on your first visit to your field
site, or during subsequent visits. If this is not convenient, take 2-3
minutes before or after you teach your mathematics lesson to explore
your students ideas about prospective science topics. Your “Big
Idea” can come from a variety of sources, including your E328 Course
Packet, a
variety of web sites (click here to go the E328
Resource Page), and from K-6 textbooks and supplementary materials
available in the School of Education Library or at the public library.
For assistance with planning your science lessons, go to: E328
Science Lesson Planning.
Return to M201
Home Page
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