CSN Education Department, Field Observation Activities Packet

Greetings Future Educator,

One of the most rewarding aspects of EDU 201, EDU 202 and EDU 203 is the opportunity you
will have to actually observe students at the grade level you are interested in eventually
teaching. These CSN courses require all students to complete a 10 hour "Field Observation" in
one of the 13 Performance Zones of the Clark County School District. Once your placement is
processed, you will receive details regarding your specific assigned school from your CSN
instructor. You will then contact the school and meet with your cooperating teacher. Both you
and your cooperating teacher will design a mutually agreeable schedule to complete your
required contact hours. Within this packet, you will find the required experience assignments
and field documents that you must complete in order to pass this class.

Name: Traci Pollard

CSN Course: EDU 201
Professor: Olivia Grant
Professors email: Olivia.Grant@CSN.EDU
CCSD School: Sig Rogich MS
Cooperating Teacher: Ernie Domanico

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CSN Education Department, Field Observation Activities Packet
ASSIGNMENT ONE (Observations): After arrival, take a seat in a non intrusive location to
begin your classroom observations. Complete the questions below:

Observation 1: What are your first impressions of the classroom/school environment? Warm? Friendly?
Organized etc? Describe the physical environment in detail.
When I walked into the school it was a Friday morning and the receptionist seemed very stressed
because the subs were not showing up. She also needed more subs. I told her who I was and she helped
me make my name tag and then told me what room to go to. The school's layout is really cool. The
"Main-Street" hallway is actually outside but it's surrounded by walls so it gives a courtyard feel. The
hallways were crowded and the teachers were all outside their doors greeting the kids as they walked
through.
*Observation 2: Please describe the student make-up of the class, including gender, ethnicity, ELL,
students with physical challenges, and any other apparent attributes that are important to note.
The student makeup of the class I was observing was made up of mostly white students, some Asian and
some Hispanic. There were not any ELL learners in the first period class. No physical challenges were
noticed. Something important to note was the teacher I observed only had accelerated classes.
*Observation 3: What are the posted class rules in the room? (exactly as written)
The posted classroom rules were:
1. Be prepared
2. Be respectful
3. Be honest
4. Be safe
5. Keep your teacher happy
*Observation 4: Does the teacher enforce the rules? Are rewards or consequences being used for
compliance or noncompliance?
I observed on a Friday both times and at the end of the year. The kids were really restless and even
though the school has a no-phones policy. I saw everyone's phone out. The teacher stated that he did
stick to his class rules of not putting up with nonsence but I wasn't able to tell that from the days I was
there. He said he rewarded kids with jolly ranchers sometimes.

ASSIGNMENT TWO (Classroom Layout): Use graph paper or drawing software to create an accurate
overhead view, labeled drawing, of your assigned classroom before answering the questions below.

In the classroom students were grouped in lines in pairs of two.

Classroom Layout Question 1: Describe the workflow of the room. Is the space used efficiently?
This classroom was filled with desks. You can hardly move around it. There were I think 35 students in
one of the classes. That's not really something they have control over though.
Classroom Layout Question 2: In your opinion, how can the physical arrangement of the room be
improved?
With the amount of students there's not a better way to do it. The room will always be crowded with
desks.
Classroom Layout Question 3: In your opinion, are there any concerns regarding safety during a normal
school day or during the possibility of fire, shelter in place, or lock-down?
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I didn't notice any safety concerns.

ASSIGNMENT THREE (Instruction): Observe any instructional time in your assigned classroom, and record
your observations when presented with the questions below:

Instruction Question 1: What is the posted daily schedule for different subjects or periods?
Early Bird: 8:00-8:52
1st period: 9:10-10:02
2nd period: 10:07-10:59
3rd period: 11:04-11:56
Lunch
4th period: 12:31- 1:26
5th period: 1:31-2:23
6th period: 2:28-3:21
Late Bird/Activities: 3:25-4:15

Instruction Question 2: Is instruction done in small groups, centers, whole groups, individual?
Instruction was done in individual, and whole group.

Instruction Question 3: How would you describe your cooperating teachers teaching style?
I would say Mr. Domanico's teaching style was very relaxed.

*Instruction Question 4: Does the teacher incorporate the sensory modalities (learning styles)? If so, give
examples.
I think his class is very student focused. He cares about his students and if they do well.

*Instruction Question 5: Do the students seem engaged in the lesson(s) that are being presented? Please
explain.
The kids really like him so I think it was easier for them to be engaged in the lesson.

*Instruction Question 6: Are there any students isolated from the rest of the class for any reason? Why?
Certain students did sit at side tables of the room but I think that was just due to overflow and not
enough desks.

Instruction Question 7: Is instructional time managed efficiently? Please explain

Mr. Domanico said he has a strict schedule because one hour is very short when your trying to get a lot
of things done. He likes to have students fill out their agendas, the homework graded and any questions
answered within the first 15 minutes of class. After that they start the lesson and homework for that
day.

Instruction Question 8: How does the cooperating teacher handle transitions from one subject or period
to another, and are these transitions effective?

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He has students pack up a few minutes before the bell and then they are free to go when the bell rings. I
did not witness him greeting his students at the door during passing period which was odd because I
saw a lot of other teachers doing it. I would of liked him to be greeting students like the other teachers.
*Instruction Question 9: List ways that the teacher attempts any attention getting commands? (Ex:
Countdown, Light flicker, Heads on Desk) How effective are they?
Mr. Domanico gets the attention of the students buy just saying "guys, we need to lower our voices
please" he has a very relaxed approach... the students get loud again usually.

*Instruction Question 10: What specific behavior issues does the teacher have to deal with? How does
the teacher deal with these behavior issues? Be specific.
The only behavior issues I witnessed were kids being off topic and trying to show off in class. When they
were taking a test he asked that anyone who had an I-watch needed to bring it to him until the test was
done. One student got up and said very loudly that Mr. Domanico better not take his $600 dollar watch,
and that he better watch out for it. The kid was trying to be funny, but it wasn't appropriate. (This is a
school in high class Summerlin neighborhood)
*Instruction Question 11: Are there any policies or procedures in place that help or hinder instructional
time? If so, explain them and how they help or hinder use of instructional time
Answered in question 7.

ASSIGNMENT FOUR (Culture): Using the information provided below, carefully observe and evaluate the
culture of the school where you are assigned to observe. Remember you are evaluating the school for its
educational culture, place of learning, sense of safety, invitation for learning, promotion of self-
actualization, development of values and socialization.

Physical Characteristics: Look at the physical areas of the school to determine atmosphere, comfort, and
feelings the school creates for students in the educational setting.

1. Consider the school property: building, grounds, fencing, equipment, landscaping, trees, parking lot,
crosswalks, gates, signs and symbols.
I think the school's layout is aesthetically pleasing. There are lots of green trees, stairs, places for
students to interact, there are crosswalks, student drop off places, and school personnel outside
watching out for students.

2. Next, study the interior of the school: halls, floor coverings, lighting, doors, windows, hall colors and
decorations and entrance security.
The inside where the classrooms are could use some updates. There is carpet in the hallway which I
found odd because usually tile is used. I think they should switch to tile because the stains in the flooring
were noticeable. The lockers were nice and the school was very colorful.

Culture of the School: Read, listen and observe to determine the climate, values, and atmosphere within
the school.

1. Identify the schools mission statement, motto, and mascot.

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Mission Statement: The mission of Sig Rogich Middle School is to provide students with a
challenging middle school experience that will prepare them for high school success
academically, behaviorally, and socially. Students will develop lifelong skills through direct
instruction, hand-on-learning, and the integration of technology.
Motto: Home of The Rough Riders
Mascot: Rough Rider

2. Analyze staff and visitor interactions in the main office. Note student and faculty interactions in other
areas of the school.
In the main office there were not a lot of visitor/staff interaction. In the hallways I did see a lot of
student/faculty interactions.

3. Look at the formal practices: school day schedule; ages of students; calendar of events; size of school;
grouping of students.
I think the students who go to this school are very blessed, they have good teachers, it feels like a safe
school and they have a lot of events that are planned for them.

4. Observe student to student interactions, inside and outside the building. Observe where students
gather to socialize lunchroom, halls, playground, etc.
Students socialized mainly in the hallways during passing periods.

5. Explain how the school is organized - by grades, departments or not. Are hallways/classroom labeled?
The school is organized by grade hallways. There is 600 hall, 700 hall, and 800 hall. Most of the 6 th grade
classes are in 600 hallway and so on. In the hallways the subject departments are grouped together, all
the math teachers are next door to each other and so on.

6. Examine school traditions, achievements and awards; community recognition or community partners;
extracurricular activities/clubs and athletics. Look for and document sources of community pride and
sense of identity through ceremonies, assemblies, trophies, and artifacts.
On the announcements they mentioned the names of students who succeeded in something. There are
trophies in the school of school accomplishments.

C. Culture of the Classroom: Each classroom has its own culture and way of life.

*1. Look for teacher(s) expectations for learning and success, interactions with students, and his/her
personality.
Mr. Domanico expected the best out of his students, at one point they were taking a quiz and he was
upset that they weren't all making 100's. This might be because he has all accelerated classrooms but I
thought the lowest grade of an 80 was a pretty good success.

*2. Evaluate the level of student participation in the class. Who participates? Who does not?
In the class mainly the "talkers" and attention seekers are the ones who participate. I noticed that the
quiet, smart students who were always on task did not raise their hands.

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*3. Evaluate the interactions between teachers and students, rapport, cohesiveness, distribution of
power, tone, frequency and reinforcements.
Mr. Domanico's interaction with students was always nice and friendly, I think he takes pride in being a
"cool teacher."

ASSIGNMENT FIVE (Cooperating Teacher Interview): Complete the questions below by interviewing your
cooperating teacher during a convenient time. Include any school documents that your cooperating
teacher will allow you to photocopy for your packet.

Interview Question 1: What was the primary reason you became a teacher?
I love working with kids. I was a basketball coach for select kids and decided to start subbing because I
had a degree in business which was not getting me anywhere at the time. After really liking subbing I
decided to go back to school to become an educator.

Interview Question 2: What is the main challenge(s) you face as a teacher?

Balancing everything I have to do and having enough time to coach basketball.

Interview Question 3: What is the best part(s) of being a teacher?

The relationships I have made with the kids.

Interview Question 4: How do you determine where students sit in class?

At the beginning of the year it's random. When I find out more about the kids I pair them up, usually I'll
put a high with a low kid, or a low kid with a low kid and so on.
Interview Question 5: How do you determine the members of any flexible groups?
Answered above.
Interview Question 6: Beyond standardized testing, what assessments do you use regularly?
I assess my students everyday with cold calls at random to see who knows the info and who doesn't. I
usually give 3 quizzes and a unit text every 3 weeks.

Interview Question 7: What requirements are placed on you for reporting progress to parents?
I'm required to keep my gradebook up to date and to hand out progress reports.

Interview Question 8: How often do you interact with a students parents in person?
I talk to the parents of my students often by using the "Remind" app.

Interview Question 9: What type of discussions do you typically have with parents?
Usually it will just be about upcoming assignments but I do also like to call parents when I see an
improvement with their child.

Interview Question 10: How much grading do you complete on a daily/weekly basis?
Usually about 5 hours a week.

Interview Question 11: How long does it take to prepare lessons for the day/week?

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It used to take me a long time but now I can do with within 10 minutes for each day because I know the
curriculum better and what students usually struggle on.

*Interview Question 12: What procedures or strategies do you use to maximize instructional time?
I give my students daily homework and when they walk into class we go over a warm up, grade the
homework, and then the rest of the class we do a lesson over math.
*Interview Question 13: What positive reinforcement programs have you had success with?
I call it "Mr. D's fridge" if someone gets a 100 on a test their paper gets posted to "the fridge" I also keep
averages of all my classes and the highest averaging class gets a donut party every 6 weeks. I also pass
out jolly ranchers sometimes which can be very effective!
*Interview Question 14: What behavioral consequences seem most effective with this age group?
Students who do not listen or who are not on task have to sign "The book" which is a progressive
disciplinary form. Also if the student is in sports they will have consequences from the coach for acting
up in class.

Interview Question 15: How are specialist teachers involved in the instructional planning process?
They aren't.

Interview Question 16: How often are you evaluated, and what measurement tool(s) is used by the
administration for determining your own performance?
I'm evaluated a lot. I think it's called NVPF (Nevada performance framework." I've also never gotten a
bad review.

Interview Question 17: What consequences are there if your evaluation is not favorable?
You will get a plan made up for you to improve.

Interview Question 18: What types of support do you receive instructionally, financially or professionally
from the school, parent organization or school district to enhance instruction?
We don't really receive any sort of support financially or instructionally... we have a 1 hour meeting
every Tuesday after school which replaced our staff development days. The teachers all want to go back
to the development days. Our school did get a grant to use Chromebooks in the classroom.

Interview Question 19: What surprised you most about teaching as a profession?
The contenct, the high level of questions, all the stuff we have to do, and that there are many teachers
who need to change professions.

ASSIGNMENT SIX (Classroom Interactions):

Teacher Exchange Directed to Boys vs. Teacher Exchange Directed to Girls.
Record tally marks for a 20 minute period when direct instruction is taking place. When interaction is
between the teacher and any male student, add a tally mark. Do the same when teacher interaction is
between the teacher and any female student. Record your tally marks in chart form, and then summarize
your findings in one paragraph.

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Teacher exchanges directed to boys: 5
Teacher exchanges directed to girls: 4
*Summarize your Classroom Interactions data from above:
I did this observation in a 7th grade science class before lunch time. The main interactions to boys were
"pay attention," "put your phone away," and "you need to finish your notes." The interactions made to
the girls were more positive like "great answer,"and "can you please do this?" During this period I was
observing the boys seemed to be more off task and girls seemed to be talking but still doing their
assigned work. The teacher seemed exhausted of telling the students to do what they were supposed
to.

ASSIGNMENT SEVEN (Administrator Interview): The prewritten student created questions are mandatory
for credit, and the Principal/Assistant Principal/Dean interview is optional but strongly encouraged ONLY IF
IT CAN BE ARRANGED. After composing your own five open-ended questions, do your best to arrange a
15 minute interview with the Principal/Assistant Principal/Dean or other administrative personnel so you
can get answers to the five prewritten questions you came up with. This could be the most valuable part
of your experience if you can shed light upon what administrators are looking for, from their future
applicants. (example Open Ended question: What are the most important qualities you look for in a
newly hired teacher?)

CSN Student Created Open Ended Question # 1 for Administrator:

What do you look for when hiring new teachers with no experience?

CSN Student Created Open Ended Question # 2 for Administrator:

What dress code is expected of your teachers?

CSN Student Created Open Ended Question # 3 for Administrator:

Do you have an open door policy?

CSN Student Created Open Ended Question # 4 for Administrator:

How would you describe a great teacher?

CSN Student Created Open Ended Question # 5 for Administrator:

What do you think is the most important job of a teacher?

ASSIGNMENT NINE (Observing a student): Discretely observe one student in your assigned regular
classroom during an extended period of direct instruction. Summarize what the student did during the
observation, making sure to document ALL behavior. Detail what was going on in the environment, and
what you observed the student doing while the lesson was being given.

1. Please summarize the setting, the lesson that was given, if the student was on task and engaged in
the lesson, and what you uncovered about putting yourself in a lesson from the students point of view.
For this assignment, I observed an 8th grade student in a science class right before lunch time. The
lesson that was being given was on radio frequency. The teacher had the students copy notes from a
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PowerPoint into their notebook. The student I observed was a boy who was not on task for the whole
time I was observing. During the time where he was supposed to be copying down his notes he was
talking to his table mates about video games. He was seated towards the back of the class. 10 minutes
passed, he still has nothing written down in his notes and is still talking. The teacher starts talking about
the notes and he continues talking. The teacher does not notice him, or is choosing to ignore him. A few
minutes later the teacher has 2 students help her do a demonstration using a slinky to show the
different "Waves" sound wave, radio wave, and etc. When she asks students to come stand and observe
this student jumps out of his chair climbs on top of the science table to jump in front of other people.
The teacher still does nothing. When the demo is done the students watch a Bill Nye video on lights and
color. The student pays attention for a few minutes and then goes back to talking for the rest of the
class period. To me, this class was not boring I was engaged in what they were learning and most of the
other students were too. I think this student needs to be seated in a different area closer to the teacher.

ASSIGNMENT TEN (Summary):

Thoroughly summarize and reflect upon your entire 10 hour Field Observation Placement.
I spent my 10 hours of observation placement at Sig Rogich Middle School. I was assigned by the vice
principal to Ernie Domanico's math classroom. Mr. Domancio teacher 6&7 th grade students, he has ALL
accelerated classes and is the head basketball coach. The kids, especially the boys really seem to like and
get along with him. I spend half of my observing hours in his classroom. Something that I noticed is that
he's really good at math, so good in fact that I dont think he could handle a classroom with kids who
needed special help in math. And since he does have all accelerated classrooms he does not have the
chance to work with those kids either. For the other 5 hours of observing I observed a few other
classrooms. I observed the computer class where the teacher was helping the students type efficiently.
She did something I thought was really cool by messing up the keyboard. None of the letters are in the
right place. She does that so the students can learn to not need to look down at the keyboard when
they type. Another class I observed was a flipped math class where the teacher used an online
environment to teach geometry. I think this was a really cool class to observe, the room was dead silent
and the teacher walked around the room helping any student who needed it. She talked to me about
the program they used and how if they clicked on something and got the wrong answer the computer
would tell them why they got the wrong answer and then automatically took them back a few steps
before they could move on to the next objective. The last class I observed was a 8 th grade science class
where the teacher made learning about radio frequency waves really fun. I had been used to observing
accelerated students so being in a room full of regular students was a big change. The teacher
apologized to me after class about how "bad" the students had been, I told her I had subbed in many
classrooms and had seen a lot worse. I really enjoyed spending my 10 hours of field observation at Sig
Rogich Middle School and hope to return their one day as a possible teacher!
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Before final grading for EDU 201, EDU 202, EDU 203 courses can occur, the CSN student must submit
their completed Field Observation Activities Packet to their CSN Instructor for grading, AND turn in their
validated Field Observation Time Log and Field Observation Student Evaluation sheets. The CCSD
cooperating teacher must also email the students CSN Instructor before the final exam date. The
instructors email can be found on the first page of this packet. (pass/fail for the student)

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CSN Education Department, Field Observation Activities Packet
Remember to save this completed packet in digital form, or as a hard copy for your Education Capstone
Course, (EDU 299)

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