Running head: PLANNING

Education Field Experience: Planning Observation

Samantha Hess
Raritan Valley Community College
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I. Observation 2:
Planning

II. Grade Level and Subject Area:

2nd grade

III. Setting:
Rural Private school, the elementary building. 1 head teacher, 8 students.

IV. Pre-Observation:
Throughout my time at Raritan Valley Community College I have learned
about how teachers use different planning techniques based on their
curriculum, and what works best for their students. In the Foundations of
Education course, I got the opportunity to go in depth with the head teacher I
work with at my job and ask her about her planning style. Though most
schools teach the same things, their curriculum and planning how to teach
these lessons will be completely different. Many schools set up a system on
what will work best for them. Schools determine the curriculum they will use,
and then develop a procedure in which to implement it into daily lessons.
(Connecticut Official State Website, n.d.). I know that every school, every
teacher is going to be different and I was interested in finding out what this
private school’s techniques and curriculum was.

V. Data:
I was able to sit down with my cooperating teacher and ask him about the
curriculum he has to follow and his techniques for incorporating it into
lessons. He told me that he has the curriculum written out into major themes
that he will be teaching. He writes out the progression of the lesson, then
adjusts it accordingly for the class. He commented that it took him years to
master his particular planning technique but now that he has got it down pat;
this is what works best for him and his students. For certain subjects he uses
the books provided to them as more of a guideline and supplements
manipulatives. For math they have the “Singapore Math” books to use. He
stated that the curriculum in their math books are very worksheet based. He
adds in a more hands on approach. He feels that the concepts in their math
book are too abstract to learn without manipulatives. He prints out some of the
worksheets that he can work into his lessons, but he feels that the book is too
heavily text driven. He also said that the book is worded weird and seems like
it is meant to trick the students. He has also found errors throughout the book.
He tried using this book in the beginning of the year, but all the students were
struggling, and he ended up shifting back to supplementing text lessons with
manipulatives. For language arts they use a scope and sequence that they, as a
school, created. It includes all the skills and lessons that need to be taught by
the end of the school year. The teachers are allowed to incorporate it and
PLANNING Hess 3

progress it however they choose. This scope and sequence covers all subjects.
It is more of a checklist that he uses for his class and what needs to be learned
throughout the year. As he organizes the curriculum around themes, my
cooperating teacher also likes to integrate lessons into different subjects and
have them cross over and make connections. He said that it took a lot of
practice to be able to get a topic or theme to cover multiple subjects.

The school created their own curriculum to follow. It has been defined and
modified over years and by past and present teachers. They use “Singapore
Math” as a guideline for math. They also use “Learning Without Tears” for
writing, cursive and typing. He also told me that he likes to know what the
students are taught in other grades that way he does not go over it fully. It is
helpful to know what other classes are doing that way he can prepare them for
it, but not go in depth. He will briefly touch on topics they will learn next
year. For example, he knows that in third grade they will be going in depth
about immigration. He said that he will teach them what that is and it will
briefly come up in a lesson, but he does not want to get deep into it because
that is a lesson for these students next year.

This school does not hold any planning meetings. My cooperating teacher is
the only second grade teacher in the school, therefore he has no one to meet
with for grade level planning. He told me that there used to be one other
second grade teacher that he used to collaborate with. Most of the curriculum
my teacher uses now was passed down from the other second grade teacher.
They would meet up on Sunday mornings outside of school to go over what
they would teach throughout the week. They felt that this informal meeting
was mutually beneficial. He misses being able to collaborate with someone,
but he has learned the skills he needs to be able to plan appropriately. They
have faculty meetings every “F” day in their schedule, but it has more to do
with going over school business rather than planning.

My cooperating teacher added that he plans his lessons daily and weekly. His
lessons are thematic based, so they usually go on for about a month. He has
everything in that theme together, then plans it out and breaks it down. He has
a general plan for the week and then finalizes daily plans. He is not required to
submit any lesson plans. He has the freedom to do what works for his class.
He said that lessons do not always go according to plan and when plans
change, you must adjust to that. If a student is interested in a particular part or
topic during a lesson, he will try to incorporate it into the lesson. He wants to
make it interesting for them and add things in that they are curious about.
Each year is different, students are different, which means that he has to plan
accordingly. He told me that in the beginning of the year he had a student with
behavioral problems, and he would try to plan his lessons in such detail, and
then make alternate plans in case it would not work for this student. He tried
to come up with back up ideas in case anything went wrong. He said that
PLANNING Hess 4

planning in such detail is very hard. Once he got used to his students, he was
able to relax with planning every little thing out.

My teacher told me that there are no tenured teachers in private schools. They
all receive year to year contracts. He thinks that having years of teaching
under his belt helps him because everyone knows that he knows what he is
doing, as opposed to a first-year teacher who needs more support. He said that
new teachers are assigned a mentor to help them get acquainted, answer any
questions they might have and properly carry out lessons. This school does
not require the teacher to follow the New Jersey Student Learning Standards,
but they do keep them in mind. They do not need to include them in their
lesson plans. The teachers can come up with their own objectives for their
lessons.

VI. Analysis:
For as long as I have been observing at this school, I have seen the teacher
continuing lessons on his overall major theme. His class, along with other
grades, were doing a school project about Native American Tribes. He
continued this topic, bringing in Lenape legends as language arts. They also
learned about the stars in science. These lessons all stem from the theme of
Native Americans. During my last observation, during language arts they were
being introduced to fables. They went over the differences between legends,
fairy tales, folk tales and fables. Over a month later, the class is still
incorporating that theme into lessons. As they fade out of that theme, they will
get into a new one. The students are always engaged during the class lessons
and ask a lot of questions. My cooperating teacher makes sure to add in topics
that the students are interested in. His lessons flow well from one subject to
another because he plans out connecting them. This keeps the material more
relevant to the students, and it will be easier for them to comprehend (Kelly,
2012). It is interesting that teachers in this school do not need to submit lesson
plans. I feel like this would make it harder for the school to keep up on what
each grade is learning and the skills they are acquiring through these lessons.
If each teacher is doing their own thing with their lessons, I hope that during
their meetings they go really in depth about what the students are learning that
way other teachers for upcoming school years know where the students are at.

VII. Recommendations:
Personally, I loved the techniques my cooperating teacher uses for planning
out lessons. The school seems to work hard at determining what is the best
approach for their students. They modify the curriculum when they feel it is
necessary. I feel that they are doing everything right. The only
recommendation I have is that the teachers should have planning meetings.
My cooperating teacher said that it would be nice to have other teachers to
bounce ideas off. of He feels that it is harder to do with other grade teachers,
and he is the only second grade teacher. Even though he is the only one
teaching second grade, I feel that it would be beneficial for all the elementary
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teachers to meet and collaborate (McClure, 2019). Collaborative practice is

also beneficial for the students. Teachers can share new ideas about
professional development, instruction and their current topics. This can get
implemented into any of their classrooms, and these new approaches can
promote student learning (McClure, 2019).

VIII. Post-observation:
I was shocked to find out how different creating lessons is in a private school
as opposed to a public school. Overall, I was impressed with how this school
creates and implements their curriculum. I like that the school trusts the
teachers enough to give them the freedom to come up with classroom
curriculum in their own way. The teachers can base lessons off themes the
students are interested in, which keeps them much more engaged (Askey,
2015).

IX. Citations:
Askey, T. (2015, August 25). Giving teachers the freedom to teach.
Retrieved March 27, 2019, from
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-teacher-shortage-
20150825-story.html

Connecticut Official State Website. (n.d.). A Guide to Curriculum Development:

Purposes, Practices, Procedures. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Health-Education/curguide_generic.pdf

Kelly, M. (2012, June 26). Ways to Make Cross-Curricular Connections in

Instruction. Retrieved March 27, 2019, from
https://www.thoughtco.com/cross-curricular-connections-7791

McClure, C. T. (2019, February 13). The benefits of teacher collaboration.

Retrieved March 27, 2019, from https://districtadministration.com/the-
benefits-of-teacher-collaboration/

X. Appendix: