Sarina Castella

Teacher Observation
1. I observed Mrs. Leonard who is a 3rd grade teacher at Marion Jordan. I chose to
observe her because she is different than the usual ESL classroom that I am in and out
of all afternoon at internship. Her students are all English speaking students and are
able to understand everything that she says. My coordinating teacher recommended I
observe her because I want to teach ESL for third grade.
2. Itinerary
● 1:00: students come back from lunch/recess
● 1:05: students begin with 40 minutes of silent reading
● 1:45: students out books away and begin with math by watching a math movie of what
they will be learning about as an introduction
● 1:50: students learn about multiplying large whole numbers using a guided worksheet
● 2:10: students get a new worksheet and split into groups to solve the problems with each
other
● 2:20: answers to problems are put on the board
● 2:25: students begin science by doing an experiment with cars that they build out of
wheels, pipe cleaners and tape to see what it takes to make a car go down a ramp the
best
● 2:40: students show their cars to the class and explain what worked for them and what
didn't
● 2:45: students began their science lesson on forces of gravity and friction

3. The teacher utilized mostly worksheets and hands on experiments such as the math
worksheets and the car experiment to teach. I think this method is very effective because it
forces the students to pay attention to the lesson as well as gives them the the independence to
learn on their own and ask questions if needed.
4. To transition from activity to activity, Mrs. Leonard does a pattern of claps and the class
reciprocates it. She does this until she has everyone's attention and doesn't start talking until the
whole class has their eyes on her, body towards her and is not talking.
5. To manage the amount of students in the classroom, she only lets the students go
somewhere when there is not another person of their same gender out already. They also have
to raise their hand and ask. She has a board on the door that has all of the students names on a
paperclip and different sections on the board that signifies where they are. For example, it has a
space for bathroom, office, nurse, etc. As for absent student homework, she still passes out the
same supplies that she does everyone else like worksheets onto their desk and collects it at the
end of the day and sends it to another class that has a sibling in it or a close friend. That way,
the student will receive their work even though they weren't in school to collect it. As for side
conversations as referred to earlier, they are not allowed. She makes sure the students know
that her classroom is for learning and not for gossip by being silent if she hears someone talking
when she is talking. Eventually the whole class turns to that person and they stop their
conversation.
 Sarina Castella

6. As referred to earlier, the only discipline issue that happened was students having side
conversations. Mrs. Leonard fixed this by giving the students silence and a look until they would
stop talking and let her teach.
7. Observing Mrs. Leonard has taught me to be more lenient with the way I adapt to the
way students respond to disciplinary actions. For example, students respond better to the
repercussions of their fellow students rather than the teacher scolding them. I will utilize the
silent treatment that was referred to earlier. I will also be more of an enthusiastic teacher
because I observed that the students respond better because it makes them more enthusiastic
as well.
8. The teacher completed the task of making sure every students wellbeing was taken care
of. Mrs. Leonard has a student that has an intellectual disability and due to that she makes sure
to slow the class down and encourage her to learn with the class. She shows the students that
equality is very important and teaches that an individual's well being can be more important than
their education at times.
9. While both teachers are very good at what they do, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Leonard are
very different in their ways of teaching. Mrs. Johnson goes slower because the students have
difficulty with English not being their first language and she interacts with them on a more
personal level due to the lower amount of students that she has. Mrs. Leonard is forced to go
with the class which means some students may fall behind. Mrs. Johnson does more Language
based assessments while Mrs. Leonard does more curriculum based assessments. They are
similar in that they both put wellbeing before education and make sure their students ar cared
for when they are in their classrooms’.
Overall experience:
Throughout this change in settings, I have learned a lot. For example, I learned to put the
students well beings first, to keep the classroom organized with set expectations such as the
clapping to get the students attentions, to create a board to keep track of which students are out
of the classroom in case of emergency, and lastly to be enthusiastic about learning because the
students learn from example. I am glad that I got the opportunity to observe a regular curriculum
based classroom because otherwise I wouldn't be sure that as much as I like it, i like the ESL
outlook of teaching better.