*FIELD EXPERIENCE INTENTIONAL FOCUSED OBSERVATION FORMAT:
Heading.
Name:
Date of field experiences reported:
(A log entry should cover only one day and should be written the day of the experience. Otherwise, memories tend to fade.)
Time spent: (e.g., 1:30–3:00 P.M.)
Sequence of Events.
Make a brief list, describing what happened. By making a list, you keep a record of what happened. This record may be useful for future reference. It allows you to mention all events, even those that seemed insignificant at the time.
Elaboration of One or Two Significant Episodes.
An episode is an “event or sequence of events complete in itself but forming part of a larger one.” Select one or two episodes that are significant to you.
An episode may be significant because what happened bothers you, excites you, causes you to rethink your initial ideas (e.g., your perspective, goals, or plans), or convinces you that your initial ideas were valid. Therefore, whether the episodes reflect your successes or your failures, they are significant if you learned something important from them.
Once you have selected one or two significant episodes, you should describe them in detail. When you describe an episode, try to relive it. Reliving the experience will enable you to provide as much detail as possible. Make certain that you include what people said, what they did, and how they looked. Try to be as specific as possible, including word-for-word quotations, as best you can remember. Recall what we said earlier about jotting notes as soon as possible. This type of description will provide you with material for reflection in the next section of the log. . There is a tendency to provide descriptions that are too narrow, focusing only on what the teacher did or said.
What we are looking for is a more complete description.
Regarding subject matter, if the learner is working on a math problem, include the problem itself in this section. If not, at least describe the content of the “lesson” and the materials with which the learner is working. Regarding the learners, describe what they are saying and doing.
Regarding the context, describe the surroundings including any relevant features, such as possible distractions or factors that may contribute to or detract from the teaching atmosphere. In this description, try to avoid inferences about how people felt or what they thought (including your own feelings and thoughts). Save these inferences for your analysis.
Analysis of Episode(s).
An analysis of episodes includes an interpretation of what feelings and thoughts may have caused the episodes to occur, why they were significant, what questions they raise, and what you think you learned from them.
Try to figure out what you accomplished, identify problems that emerge and how you plan to follow up, and distill from the episodes what you learned. This last point is the most important. You may have learned what does and does not work in this situation. If so, describe what you conclude. But you may also have learned something about your philosophy of teaching (your perspective). Does the episode confirm your ideas or force you to reconsider them? Maybe some initial ideas you held rather dogmatically depend, to a large extent, on the situation in which you apply them. If so, what was it about the situation that affected the applicability of the ideas? Perhaps the episode relates to something you read or learned about in this or some other education course. This would be the place to discuss it.
In addition to describing how you felt, you should use the analysis section to discuss what you can say about yourself as a teacher and/or about teaching in general as a result of the experience. Many experiences raise more questions than they answer. You might use your logs as an opportunity to note questions arising during your field experiences that you want to discuss in class.
*Borrowed from Person Higher Ed 3/3/09 pg.25
Lauren Madison
2/02/23
(1:35-3:10)
Sequence of Events
I walked into the classroom with Alex and we met up with Denver who had arrived before us and was already talking to students. All of the students in SUCCESS were talking to us as we walked in, they were working on decorating their class door for Black History Month and homework so we just walked around and talked to the students as they worked. When the bell rang Ms. Bleicher's students for the fifth period came flooding in and started messing around with one another as they waited for Ms. Bleicher to get them settled down, I used this time to walk around and ask students how they are or catch up. Once they settle down and do their journals I walk around and help students with the processing of the journal and what is being asked of them. As we moved on from journal responses we did chapter questions over the class novels in preparation for their Friday quiz. The students were all pretty engaged for the most part and answered the questions.
Elaboration of One or Two Significant Episodes
There is one student in this class who had very unkempt hair, he had it grown out extremely long but it was obvious his hair was neglected. When I first met the student I noticed how matted and tangled his hair was and due to the length of it and how quiet he is even accidentally misgendered him. He often sits in the back and doesn't speak to anyone, the teacher's aid sits back there, and when the student talks to other people too much he seems to move closer to the student in a way to subtly deescalate the situation, even if there is no situation. On this particular day, I noticed that the front table of girls kept turning around to look at him and then they'd start giggling with each other. As I began walking over to their table to get them back on task, the student called them out on their behavior and asked them to stop laughing at him. As he said this the teacher's aide moved beside him and the girls started laughing even more. He told them to stop and asked what was so funny and one of the girls replied, "Your hair looks like f--ing a rat's nest, that's what."
When the student returned the next day he had cut his hair off. I asked him why he cut it and he explained that he's always wanted shorter hair, but his parents prefer his long hair so he doesn't get to get a lot of haircuts. I tried to relate and explained I remember the days of my mom being the one driving me to my appointments and paying for them so I was at her mercy when it came to getting those things done. He took it wrong or maybe I phrased it wrongly but he quickly explained that money was not a factor, it was simply that he just gave up fighting for haircuts because he knew they wouldn't let him get them. The girls in front continued to turn back and laugh at him so I went and sat where they wouldn't be able to see him and then I talked to him about his hair and how I liked the length he cut it to because it made it look healthier and shiny. He told me that this was the agreed-upon length and that his mom probably wouldn't let him get another haircut for around three years but he liked the length too.
The next day, Friday, this student also had come into class and it was clear he'd made a friend in the new student who had started at Northside on Monday. He moved his assigned desk over to hers and they worked on their journals together, I was very excited about this development because the female student had confided in me that she was severely bullied at her old school and the male student seemed to currently be very isolated by his peers and also experiencing bullying. As they sat there working quietly on their journals other students in the class noticed he moved his seat by hers, specifically the students in her row, and they demanded he moves back to his original spot because his seat was out of place and there was a certain organization to the seats that he'd messed up. It was obvious that based on how many students moved things around in this class on a daily basis that their sudden concern for the classroom arrangement had nothing to do with how the class was arranged and everything to do with the student sitting with them.
Analysis of Episode
I feel like I was able to step in and make this student feel seen because he was a lot more talkative with me after I asked him about his hair and he shared a lot with me in such a small amount of time that it felt like maybe he just needed an authority figure to get down on his level and ask him the questions he needed to be asked. It was odd seeing someone experience bullying and one of the big topics in this class is "What would you do as a bystander?" I watched and waited for someone in the class to talk to him or be friendly all week, but he just sat there with his head down. When the girls laughed at him, nobody said anything about it being rude but instead, they joined in. It was hard because I even made the assumption at first that he likely just is lazy and doesn't want to brush his hair but then when I sat down and talked to him I realized that a form of his bodily autonomy had been stripped from him and it was not something he liked, so he had to deal with someone else's decision over his body. Then I thought deeper and realized that lack of grooming and self-care to that extent are often signs of severe depression. So, knowing this I feel like having conversations with Ms. Bleicher about this student and talking with this student himself to get a better idea of whether this is a lack of care because this is not his choice or is this a lack of care because he's depressed and needs help?