Observations

Observation #1 – Resource Room –
This observation was done in a 3rd grade resource room class at Bells Elementary School in Washington Township, New Jersey. This school is located in a suburban, predominately white middle to upper class town in Southern New Jersey. The class was taught by an an experienced special education teacher with over fifteen years at Bells Elementary. This class had eight students in a very small classroom. The desks were organized in rows which encouraged the students to work on their own.
The class was very structured; all the students knew what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to complete their tasks. The classroom is very much centered on individual skills verses lecture by the teacher. The students work on tasks at their own pace and teachers and teacher assistants keep a record of the students tasks completions. During reading class the students read a short story on their own (they were permitted to choose from a selection) and then create their own story log (similar to the example we were given in class). On the story log students wrote the main ideas and also drew pictures of the main ideas. This allowed the students to express what they read through means other than writing. Once the students had finished a story log they were then expected to re-read the story to a teacher. The teacher then recorded the students’ progress. This seemed to be helping the students gain confidence in their reading skills because they were not pressured to read in front of their classmates. The student was then able to pick a new book and make another story log. It is also important to note that the books are grouped into levels and the teacher determines which level book a particular student should choose. The students were encouraged to work at their own pace and read books that were interesting to them. The students seemed to enjoy the fact that they had a choice, and that there was no pressure to complete tasks on the same pace as the rest of the class. The literacy techniques used in this classroom made reading and writing fun for everyone!

Observation #2 – Inclusive 2nd Grade Classroom –
This observation was also done at Bells Elementary School. For this observation, a second grade regular education classroom with inclusive support was observed. This class had twenty-three students, one regular education teacher, one in-class support special education teacher, and paraprofessional support for a student with high functioning Autism. In this classroom the students did not have desks; instead they sat at tables of 4 or 5. There were a lot of posters covering the walls of the room. These posters put the children in a extremely literary environment.
In this class the lesson was taught by both the regular education teacher and the special education teacher.. During the observation the regular education teacher read a story to the students on the rug at the front of the room. She read with enthusiasm and often stopped to ask the kids comprehension questions as well as general inquiries about their thoughts about the story. After she finished reading the book she asked several comprehension questions which were answered by the students. If a students was unable to answer the question the teacher offered hints until the student was able to come up with the correct answer. The students who answered the questions were chosen at random using Popsicle sticks with their names on it that were drawn from a can. After the lesson taught by the regular education teacher, the special education teacher taught a phonemic awareness lesson. The students were asked to tell the teacher words that ended in –ame, and –ake. The students were asked to tell the teacher words ending in these sounds. They were also expected to spell the word to the teacher. Meanwhile, the teacher wrote the words the children were spelling on a big poster board so the students could see the words. While this lesson is centered on phonemic awareness, it also helps students spell and expand their vocabulary. Overall, this class was wonderful to observe because they had a very interesting and student centered approach to language arts. I felt like the teachers covered a lot of material in a short period of time and the students were really learning and were comfortable in their environment, even when they made a mistake or did not know an answer. The positive attitudes in this classroom were incredible!

I really enjoyed doing these observations! I feel like I learned a lot about the different techniques which can be used to teach language arts. It was great to see the lessons taught through two different approaches; one which allowed students to work at their own pace and quietly on their own. The other was more group oriented and the students worked together to answer questions and learn new things! It was great to see these different methods!