Hoyle, Mariah. SPED 2100-001. Observation Paper.

I. Dates of the Observations: I started my observation on September 11th with Irina Lane in a

resource classroom for two hours and 30 minutes. I also performed an observation on September

15th with Jennah Bullington in a resource room for two hours and 30 minutes. My final

observation in a special education classroom was on October 4th with Miranda Jones in a self-

contained AU classroom for five hours. These three occurrences total 10 hours, the requirement

for SPED 2100.

II. School(s): I performed my observations at Torrence Creek Elementary School located in

Huntersville, NC. The school is a public school that is a part of the Charlotte Mecklenburg

School system. The school is Kindergarten through fifth grade and has approximately 500

students. Torrence Creek is primarily white students and only about 20% of them come from

low-income families. A shocking statistic about Torrence Creek is that the school is rated above

average when compared to other schools in the state. This means the students are making above

average academic improvement year after year. This is remarkable because a large number of

schools in the Charlotte area are below average.

III. Classroom and School Setting: Upon entering the special education classrooms, it was

evident they had a lot of resources and activities to use for the children. The classrooms had

minimal desk seating which allowed space for centers, flexible seating, and toys for the children.

In all three classrooms, the teacher had the desks set up in a U shape facing the whiteboard and

projector screen. This allowed the students to focus just on the teacher and eliminated

distractions. Each of the classrooms also included flexible seating for the children to use as

desired. Flexible seating includes bean bags, yoga balls, rocker chairs, scoop seats, stools, and

crates with cushions. Flexible seating is seen in every classroom at Torrence Creek and the

teacher mentioned the principal is a strong advocate for it. Flexible seating has many benefits
Hoyle, Mariah. SPED 2100-001. Observation Paper.

such as increased concentration and memory, using up excess energy, more oxygen flow to the

brain, and improved core strength and posture. In the classrooms, there were also board games,

puzzles, trains, playdoh and various other toys for the children to enjoy. The teacher incorporated

these toys into her lesson plan, helping to keep the children engaged. Overall, the classrooms I

visited had a positive atmosphere, lots of resources and adequate space for the child to learn. The

class sizes in the resource room and self-contained classroom were very small. The resource

room had 4-5 students during my observation and the self-contained AU classroom had 8

students. The students in Mrs. Lanes resource room had autism and the students in Mrs.

Bullingtons resource room had learning disabilities. Both of the resource classroom sessions I

observed were boys in the same grade (Kindergarten and 3rd grade). The self-contained

classroom was a classroom designed for students with autism in grades 2-5. The self-contained

classroom had 7 boys and 1 girl, which is understandable since autism is more prevalent in boys

than girls.

IV. What the Teacher Did: Classroom 1 9/11/17: This observation was done in the resource

room hosting students with autism. The teacher gave the students directions and told them what

to do. She was there for questions, redirection, and walked around the classroom working with

the students one-on-one. The teacher made accommodations for one student by giving him a

larger and thicker pencil to use for writing. During this time, the teacher also had to deal with a

behavior problem among one student. The student was whining and wanting the teachers

attention. The teacher handled this behavior issue by talking to him and explaining that she had

to help everyone.

Classroom 2 9/15/17: This observation was done in an inclusion setting and also in the teachers

resource room. For the inclusion students, the teacher was preforming literacy tests with the
Hoyle, Mariah. SPED 2100-001. Observation Paper.

students in the hallway. She recorded their responses and gave the students feedback on their

performance. After this inclusion setting the teacher moved back to the resource room and five

Kindergarten boys were pulled into the classroom. These students were working on an alphabet

matching game and practicing good social skills with others. The teacher coordinated the game

and also made comments during the game to the children such as, wait your turn and you

have to share. The teacher mentioned that she likes to pair the children up and work specifically

with one student for the game because he has more direct problems with sharing and taking

turns.

Classroom 3 10/4/17: The teacher was very involved in this classroom and had to manage

everything. She had to manage the childrens behavior, teach them new topics, display videos,

monitor their behaviors at lunch, and make sure the students are playing safe with each other.

The teacher also had to coordinate with teacher assistants, who pulled children out and escorted

them to their special of the day (art, PE, music, computer lab). When compared to the other

settings, the teacher was more involved in this classroom setting.

V. What the Students Did: Classroom 1 9/11/17: In this classroom, the students did a variety of

tasks but the main focus was on writing. The teacher put the spelling words on the board and the

students wrote on the wooden table using Expo markers. This allowed them to easily erase a

letter if they made a mistake or wanted to rewrite the letter. After the Expo marker activity, the

students progressed to writing a story on paper. Their prompt was to write about the best

birthday ever using three complete sentences. The teacher helped the children brainstorm and

then let them write on the paper with raised lines. The raised lines help the students stay on the

correct line and provides a touchable guide for new writers. This is where the accommodation of

a large thick pencil was made for a student. During this time, I observed the childrens behavior
Hoyle, Mariah. SPED 2100-001. Observation Paper.

and physical presentation. Most of the students kept looking at the clock or looking around the

room avoiding their work.

Classroom 2 9/15/17: During this observation, the students were being tested in the hallway on

their literacy proficiency. During this test, the students had to pronounce the letters, words and

phrases that were listed on the paper. Some of the words on the list were not real and simply

were there to test if the child could sound it out. The children struggled with the made-up words

and also struggled with listing the sounds the vowels can make.

Classroom 3 10/4/17: During this observation, the students performed a lot of activities and

rotated around the classroom. They learned math, reading and literacy, and science during my

observation. The teacher used a lot of videos during instruction that the children enjoyed and

sung along too. For math, the teacher used videos of counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Most of the

students participated and knew how to count using this song. For reading, the teacher had

literacy stations the children rotated around. There were 2 people in each group that stayed

together through the rotations. The stations were computers, iPads, the Smartboard, reading

books, practicing phonics with the teacher, and using playdoh to make letters and words. The

children had to be told which station to go to after they had completed the previous station. Most

of the students had great behavior but about three of four had to be redirected every so often.

One student in particular had behavior problems during the whole observation. The teacher

stated that he was a new student and was from another school that did not participate in much

instructional time. This student even hit the teacher assistant in the face because he did not want

to participate in that station. Overall, the students were well behaved and enjoyed the stations

because they were given the freedom to choose what they wanted to do.
Hoyle, Mariah. SPED 2100-001. Observation Paper.

VI. Reflection: After my observations, I was very pleased with the classrooms I visited and the

way the teacher chose to lead the students. The teachers incorporated technology in the

classroom by allowing the children to play games related to math, science, and reading on the

iPads, computers, and using the Smartboard. The teachers also incorporated music and

movement into their lesson plans by including brain breaks in the class schedule and allowing

the children to dance and sing. Another thing that stood out to me in the classroom was how

small the class sizes were. I was impressed that the resource room only had 4 students and the

self-contained classroom was limited to eight. This keeps the student to teacher ratio small and

ensures the students receive the teacher interaction they need. The amount of resources the

teachers had in their classrooms was also outstanding. The teachers had a variety of resources

and strategies that they used in their classroom to make sure the students reach their full

potential. In the self-contained classroom, the teacher had a Velcro picture schedule that was

individualized for each student. The schedule was different for almost every student which

shows how much time and dedication the teacher displays for her students.

I saw and heard a lot of vocabulary that was mentioned in our SPED 2100 class which made me

feel more comfortable during my observations. One of those things was being able to recognize

an accommodation that was provided to a student without the teacher telling me. I also observed

eloping, toe walking, and sensory fixation which are all signs of autism. These behaviors were

observed in the self-contained AU classroom, which explains their behaviors. During my second

observation with Mrs. Bullington, she mentioned the multi-tiered system of support when talking

about one of her students. She talked about how the girl moved from California last year and had

to go through the MTSS to qualify for special education programs. I remembered talking about

the MTSS in class and was able to carry on a conversation with her about this topic. My overall
Hoyle, Mariah. SPED 2100-001. Observation Paper.

experience was wonderful and I enjoyed observing and helping out in these classrooms. The

teachers, schools, and administration at the school were very welcoming and wanted to make

sure my experience was the best. I would love to perform observations again and hope more

classes in my major require this experience.