Observation Questions

1. How many hours did you complete?

I completed 5 hours of observations for the purposes of this course; although, throughout the duration of the course, I had a practicum student from EKU.  Therefore, I have completed many more hours during the past 8 weeks.

2. In a short paragraph or bulleted list, how did you spend your time?

-I observed a music teacher incorporating the story “Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea” to teach rhythm to her students.

-I implemented a reading/language arts lesson in a kindergarten classroom.

-I observed a 2^nd grade teacher working in a small group reading workshop.  She implemented several different short activities in an hour long re-teaching session.

3. How did the experience help you to strengthen at least one Kentucky Teacher Standard? (be sure to name the standard)

KTS 8: The teacher collaborates with colleagues, parents and others.

This experience really helped strengthen my collaboration skills.  Through all the observations, I worked hand in hand with colleagues and teachers from other schools.  By working with the music teacher, I was able to visualize ways to integrate different subjects, such as music, into daily read-alouds with my students.

4. Talk a little about one thing you learned because of this field experience.

The most beneficial thing that I gain from any field experience is different teaching methods.  I think it is so beneficial to walk into someone else’s classroom and see how they handle daily tasks; my favorite being classroom management.  Some may say that classroom management has nothing to do with reading, but that is not true.  If you don’t have good classroom management, students cannot be actively engaged in their learning.  Therefore, I love to see the various ways teachers work with students to keep them engaged.