Observation Report
Part I: Observation
For my observation
I chose to Veterans Park Academy
of the Arts. This is a public school which operates in Lehigh Acres, FL. The school services over 1500 students in K-8th grades. I had the opportunity to observe in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th
and 8th grades. Spending time in the different class levels reinforced
my interest in elementary education, particularly 3rd grade.
Of the hours I spent
in the lower grades, I was aware of the neat and organized nature of all the classrooms.
They were bright, inviting and comfortable. The teachers in the lower
grades are responsible for teaching the whole range of subjects. The “back to basics” approach meant
to train the students mind, promote reasoning …an Essentialist education as the backbones. (Sadker 2008) The ones I observed divided their rooms into
special areas for each subject; a reading corner with comfortable cushions and shelves for the books, the math bulletin board
with functions that relate to what the grade is studying, a history area with pictures of our presidents the American flag
and maps. All the rooms had student work displayed all around the room, which
enabled the kids to take pride in the room as well.
After four days in
the middle school grades I was pleasantly surprised to be placed in Mrs. Alonso’s 3rd grade class. The room was bright with colorful motivating messages on the walls, the classroom rules clearly posted
on the wall as well as the consequences for not adhering to the rules. Mrs. Alonso
stood in the center of the room; her students were in two groups on either side desks facing in to one another. This fostered team work and discussion among the students. The
students were focused on their lesson of division using manipulatives that were distributed by one student in each group. Mrs. Alonso was teaching the division by using deductive reasoning by explaining about dividing the manipulatives into pieces to represent the one’s of their equation. (Sadker 2008) If any of the students
had trouble they could follow along with Mrs. Alonso who was doing the same exercise on the overhead projector. In between each step, Mrs. Alonso went from student to student who raised their hands needing assistance. She would be sure to get down on the students level and speak softly enough not to
interrupt the others concentration.
The students in Mrs.
Alonso’s class were respectful, responsive and happy. After speaking with
Mrs. Alonso for a short time, my suspicions were correct; she is a self-confessed control freak. She said she makes a point in the beginning of the year of letting the students know who the boss in the
classroom is. The rules and the consequences are spelled out and then posted. Each day the objective and lessons are clearly written on the board. Since the students do not change classrooms in this grade level at VPAA, the students have a cubby to use
for themselves. The teacher also has an area where she displays items that have
been given to her by past and present students; this lets them know that they are special and remembered by Mrs. Alonso.
Veterans Park Academy for the Arts is a
fairly new public school in Lehigh Acres; it opened in August 2004 as the East Zone attractor school for the Arts. It has since almost doubled its enrollment. As well as the
general student body it serves students with Autism in 5 full time Autistic classrooms as well as 1 PreK ESE class. There are computers in every classroom. Every classroom has a television equipped with district news on
it; it is also used as a visual aid and movies for education. The playground outside is completely new. It is a beautiful facility, and all children are mainstreamed together and play together on this playground.
As well as the core subjects the students are provided with Enrichment Classes in Art, Music, Drama and Dance. The Art room is filled with drawings and projects, the students also have the opportunity to have their
work be displayed on the web through the Artsonia program. The music classes
teach all instruments as well as reading music. There are instruments available
to take home for extended periods for practice. The dance teacher incorporates
vocabulary and geography by teaching dances from different countries and the language associated with it as well as the origin
of the dance.
Part II: Reflection
After observing elementary, middle and high school grades I
felt more comfortable in my conviction to teach elementary grade level. The middle
and high school level students seem to be of two groups, focused on academics or completely apathetic toward their studies. Sixth grade seemed to be nothing but reprimanding bad behavior. It seemed as though it was too late to reach them, I’m sure that there are exceptions to each of
these comments.
Mrs. Alonso’s 3rd grade class impressed me most, I felt
that the students showed a great deal of respect to their teacher and she to them. The
classroom was so inviting and organized that I returned to it a few times in the two weeks that I did my observations. Revisiting allowed me time to speak to the students about what subjects they were
studying, what they thought about their teacher and what they thought about school in general.
I also got time to speak to Mrs. Alonso about how much she enjoys her job and cares for her students. She shared with me how she organized some of the lesson plans, tips on controlling the group and gave me
an opportunity to look through the teacher’s version of the textbooks. We
spoke about the emphasis that is put on the FCAT skills, 3rd grade is when the students first take the FCAT tests. We talked about the time that is taken away from engaged time with the students to
prepare for the test taking. (Sadker 2008)
They had finished the tests the week before I began my observations.
Overall, I felt that the school and the teachers were creating
a comfortable environment for learning, and plenty of motivation to be involved in the lessons. What the children do with this in the upper grades seems to be up to them.
I think that family interaction must teeter off after 5th grade. A
pivotal point in my opinion, the children are just starting to push forward with their individuality and personality, a time
when parental influence needs to be reinforced and the importance of education emphasized.
My discussions with the teachers reflected a desire for more parental involvement, but for many children the family
unit isn’t in tact or the work schedules are not conducive to assisting students with homework and project assignments. Teachers can offer support but can’t force a student to do something, that is
still a parent’s job for as long as they are able to make it happen.
I thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks of observing teachers at Veterans Park Academy
for the Arts; I would hope that I could get a position at a school like VPAA. The
Administrators were in touch with what was going on at the school, the Educators truly seemed to care about their students
and for the most part the students all seemed happy.
