Earl Holder

Theory and Practice of Literacy Instruction

November 11, 2014

Prof. Hsu

                                                               

 

                                          Case Study

   During the course of my field observation at Walnut Elementary school in 

Uniondale,New York, I witnessed from the moment the pledge of allegiance was said and class began that there was a sense of class progression. This became apparent when the teacher encouraged his students to think for themselves and had the class doing brain exercises independently as a way

to test their cognitive abilities of memorization and comprehension. During the course of his lesson, the instructor later on taught etiquette and how people should greet one another. From viewing this particular exercise, they seemed to respond quite willingly to the commands the teacher was giving his students, he sounded like mixed bag of gentle yet firm when he would give instructions on what to do.

   This became especially apparent when both the main teacher and art teacher that was also present during this time both asked the students to put their hands on their heads when they needed them to quiet down.  The main teacher pressed a bell and the students automatically put their hands on their heads. From seeing this procedure done, it sort of reminded me of Ivan Pavlov's theory of salivation when he had the dog salivating during the conduction on one of his

tests. Shortly after this, the teacher continued his lesson by teaching students about being independent and sticking up for themselves when they are being bullied and called the procedure "No, go, tell". “No Go Tell” is a procedure that basically teaches students not to go running to their mother every time there's a problem, whenever an issue arises handle it yourself.

 From there, the teacher did electronic math on the board and had the kids on the internet problem solving, which was done as a way so to familiarize the students with computer technology. After further observing the instructor’s teaching approach, you could automatically tell it was a common core teaching method he was using and the kids were learning from. He further went on to set up a math test for students to take to show their intelligence. From there, the teacher broke the students up into groups to work independently on math or any assignment they might have missed.

The teacher called it breaking them into "Centers" and split them into groups to also read books with short story novels. Shortly thereafter, they broke for recess at 11am and when they came in, the students were asked on what they experienced while they were outside playing. This was done as a way for the students to be a little more social not only with the teacher but with each other as well.

Then as soon as that rapport between teacher and student was re-established, it would segue into a class discussion. Shortly after the class discussions the teacher would break the class up into little small groups where the teacher would go into a group discussion mode prompting the quiet kid(s) in the group to become more vocal and involved during the group discussions.

   This was done simply by inquiring for the quiet student’s input (amongst the other students in the group) on a specific topical discussion at the moment. The instructor then began to teach kids how to read and spell new words by going over the work with them. To see the teacher work with the kids inspired them to want to work just so they can impress the teacher even if even they made mistakes in the process. The teacher later discussed animal evolution with the

students being huddled up around each other while they viewed a VHS tape on the evolution of tadpoles as they go from tadpole to frogs in the evolutionary cycle. After the viewing, the students were given diary journals to write about their day in their diaries.

   One particular student I observed was an astute girl named Veronica who was very alert along with being a very good reader when it came to the three running records she was given to read and recant as a way to test her comprehension and cognitive abilities on the whole. During the course of this process, it was proven to me that not only did she read the passages nearly

flawless and at her grading level, she also proved that she was able to fully comprehend what she read, thus passing the brain exercises I was also putting her through as a cognitive test with flying colors. Not to mention, her fluency while she pronounced certain words she was saying while not perfect, came very close to perfection as a reader and that to me spoke volumes in seeing her potential and how far she can go in life if she is able to remain on the path she is currently on.

   Overall my experience during the course of my field observation provided a very rewarding experience for me. The knowledge I gained about common core teaching along with the different methods of teaching that have been used in order ensure a students’ understanding of the material being taught to them during the day’s lesson have proved very enlightening for me and the learning lessons I’ve acquired during my observational stint are lessons I plan on taking with me as I continue my road to becoming a teacher.