Field Observation

Assignment 1
Evaluation
London Walsh
Edu 203
Elizabeth Hudson
12/02/17
 Assignment 1

1: What are your first impressions of the classroom/ school environment?

Mrs. Danise’s room is very organized. There are five tables, each for a different learning center.
Each student has what is called their bench seat. When they do arts and crafts at the purple or
“grape” table, they sit in these seats. It is a crate, where they put their learning materials, with
a seat on top. There are posters on the wall, filled with great information. The tables are spaced
out enough so that nothing presents a fir or safety hazard. As soon as I walked in, I felt
welcome. I knew the next ten hours would be lovely.

2: Please describe the student makeup of the class, including gender, ethnicity, ELL, students
with physical challenges, and any other apparent attributes that are important to note.
Mrs. Danise teaches in a self-contained classroom for children with autism. Intermediate
meaning 3rd-5th grade. All of her children have Autism Spectrum Disorder. She has 7 kids total; 2
girls; 5 boys. Four of the children are African American and three are white. There is one kid
who has poor upper body balance so he leans against his elbow often times to support himself.
They are working with him on strengthening that upper body. No other students present any
specific physical disabilities.

3: What are the posted class rules in the room? (exactly as written)
There is a print out of a poster with rules. I am unsure if the teacher made it or if she found it
but the rules listed are as follows:
1. Listen when others are talking
2. Follow directions
3. Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself
4. Work quietly and do not disturb others
5. Show respect for school and personal property
6. Work and play in a safe manner
There is another poster in the room as well that is handwritten and it contains rules for when a
speaker is present. This one says to keep your whole body attentive while a speaker is present,
not to talk when a speaker is present, and not to move around when a speaker is present.

4: Does the teacher enforce the rules? Are rewards or consequences being used for
compliance or noncompliance?
Mrs. Danise does a really good job with positive reinforcement. She rarely does punishment for
consequences. For example, she uses a token system; this is for specified behaviors. When a
student gets five tokens they get to redeem the token board for five minutes of free time, or
“reinforcer”. One of the kids gets tokens toward his reinforcer when he uses a calm body and a
calm voice.
 Evaluation

Over the month of November, this Fall semester of 2017, I have had the pleasure of

observing Mrs. Danise. She and her assistant teacher, Mrs. Ramon, work together to teach

children with autism in a self-contained intermediate level classroom. I have learned a lot from

observing her classroom for ten hours. One of the first things that I learned were each of the

students’ strengths. Like how one of the kids is really good at drawing and creating stories;

another student is really good at math; and another two excel at reading. Not every kid has

these great strengths. A couple of the kids need that extra guidance, but they all try very hard. I

didn’t use any of the students’ names out of privacy.

I’ve noticed as well that they follow a consistent routine. When something is out of

order they are quick to notice it. One day, a student couldn’t find his backback and he kept

asking Mrs. Danise if she had called his mom yet to ask her where it is. This same child is

working on raising his hand when he needs something and waiting his turn instead of saying

things without being called on. On the last day that I was there it looked as though he was

really getting better at it. Almost each time that he raised his hand he waited until she looked at

him and she praised him greatly every time. Now he has his own token board as well.

One of the students loves to draw and make his own music and a couple of days that I

was there, he would show me his drawings and describe who they are and what powers they

had. He had the most social skills of all of the other kids except one of the girls. These two

students along with two of the other kids who excel in reading, go to 3rd grade every morning at

9pm. A few of that same group go to 3rd grade in the afternoon as well.
 I had the opportunity to ask Mrs. Danise many questions. She often asked me if I had

any questions and often times I didn’t know what to ask because I was completely enveloped in

learning everything I could from observing each of the kids. Although, I did ask her what the

most challenging part of this job was and said behaviors; the kids can be unpredictable. One

minute they can be fully cooperative and the next minute it’s as if they shut down. Luckily I was

always there in the morning and even though there may be a couple bad fits from the

mornings, the kids seem to be more attentive where as in the afternoon they may start to slip

after such a long day.

I have learned from both Mrs. Danise and Ms. Ramon that in order to educate in this

particular field, you need knowledge, a strong faculty support, a plan for any situation, and tons

of patience. She said she has to be consistent and understanding but she also has to make sure

the kids are learning. In just the couple of weeks I was there, I saw improvement already. I am

glad I got to work with these two and learn so much about various programs the school has to

offer, as well as the programs they use online, such as ST Math, to track their academics. Both

of the teachers are incredible and it is very easy to see that they know what they are doing.

Although I do not plan on teaching specifically special education courses, I feel more

knowledgeable and better equipped than I felt before observing this classroom.