CSN Education Department - Field

Observation Activities Packet

Greetings Future Educator,

One of the most rewarding aspects of EDU 202 is the opportunity you’ll have to observe in a school classroom
where students are actively engaged in learning. Each of these three CSN courses require all students to
complete a 10 hour "Field Observation" in a Clark County public school.

Once your placement is processed, you will receive details regarding your assigned school from your CSN
professor. Only then, will you contact the school and meet with your CCSD “cooperating teacher”. Both you and
your cooperating teacher will design a mutually agreeable schedule to complete your required contact hours once
you meet for the first time.

Within this packet, you will find the required field experience assignments and other documents that you must
complete in order to pass this class.

CSN Student: Hailin Yao

CSN Course: EDU 202 Intro. to Secondary Education

Professor: Connie Christensen

Professor’s email: [email protected]

CCSD School: Cimarron-Memorial High School

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Cooperating Teacher: Sopheap Khuon

THE FIELD OBSERVATION ASSIGNMENTS

ASSIGNMENT #1 (Observation)

1: The classroom environment are clean and friendly. The teacher always smiles and greets students when they
come in, and he cleans the room after the last student leaves.
2: There are 38 students, 19 girls and 19 boys, in this class, and there is a student aid who helps the teacher to
put grades in the computer system.
3: There is not any class rule posted in this class.

ASSIGNMENT #2 (Classroom Layout):

1: The space in this classroom is not used efficiently because the boxes and the cabinets make this room
crowded.
2: In my opinion, we need to put the boxes under the table 4 or table 2, and one cabinet is enough because there
are not a lot of items in the shelves.

ASSIGNMENT #3 (Instruction):

1: There is not any posted daily/weekly schedule for different subjects or periods.
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2: Instruction is delivered in whole group.
3: Mr. Khuon always shows students how to solve a problem first when he teaches a new lesson. Then, he will
ask them to solve a similar one. After that, he will make the question more complicated and solve it. Then,
students will do another similar question.
4: In order to incorporate the sensory modalities, he always writes down the key words on the board and let
students take notes. In the next class, he will ask some students what they have learned in the last class to make
sure they can memorize them.
5: Most students are engaged in the lessons presented because they always ask questions when they canot
understand them.
6: There are some students isolated from the class. Sometimes they are drawing or drowsing during the class.
7: He always says “let us do this now” or “let us make it more interesting” when he handle transitions from subject
to subject, and they are effective.
8: When he wants to get students’ attentions, he will say “okey guys, look at here” or “okey, here we go.”

9: “Stop speaking” is effective when students make noise. While collecting papers, he always warns that one will
not receive any grade if he or she does not turn the paper in in ten second, so he can save some time.
10: The teacher puts practice papers in the table 1, the table closes to the door, so all students will get one when
they come in, which save a lot time in handing papers.

ASSIGNMENT #4 (Culture):

Physical Characteristics:
1: School parking lots are on its both north and south side, and play grounds that are surrounded by fences are
on its north and west sides. School is surrounded by trees, and the entrance, which has a gate, is on the south.
School layout provide a quite place for students because parking lots and trees will prevent the noise. When you
enter the gate, the main office is on your right side, and its second floor is a library. There is a plaza, which has
spartan statues and sun umbrellas, on your left side, and the classrooms are surrounded the plaza, which is a
good place for students to relax during breaks. The main office is not far away from classrooms so that it will save
time for students if they have questions or help.
2: The entrance security always asks information when he find someone unfamiliar, which is good because that
will provide a safe place for students. The main colors of this school are silver and red. Silver color makes it looks
clean, and the red color is warm and cheerful. The lights in the classrooms are bright enough for students to
study. Teachers have computers and printers in their classrooms so that they can print documents for students.

Culture of the School:

1: The mission of Cimarron-Memorial High School is to provide a quality education which will enable students to
become lifelong learners and responsible citizens and to acquire the skills essential for success in the 21st
century. The school mottoes are commitment, motivation, honor, and success. Cimarron-Memorial High School
sets higher standards for achievement, and it hopes each student can take participate in every activity. Teamwork
creates better results, and everyone respects to each other.
2: All stuffs are friendly. They love to help you whenever you hava problems. The school has many sports, so
students and faculty will interact in the play grounds.
3: Besides classrooms, students will interact at halls. They also interact in the main office and play grounds.
4: In my opinion, the school is well organized. Library, which is on the second floor, and main office are in the
same building, and it is surrounded by classrooms. It is easy to find any room that you are looking for.
5: Cimarron-Mecorial High School is one of high graduation rate schools in Las Vegas. It has a lot of community
partners, such as Lowe’s, Lenovo, and NVEnergy. Extracurricular athletics, such as football, golf, soccer, and
tennis, make school life colorful and interesting.

Culture of the Classroom:

1: Mr. Khuon hopes all his students can be successful and better. He always push his students to try something
that is helpful for them.

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2: The level of students participation in this class is high. Almost everyone participates with the teacher in the
classes. However, there are some students do not interact with the teacher. Maybe the class is hard for them to
understand.
3: Students like to study with Mr. Khuon because he is friendly, and he always can answer the questions. They
have a rapport with each other, and they have strong cohesiveness.

ASSIGNMENT #5 (Cooperating Teacher Interview):

1: The primary reason why Mr. Khuon wants to become a teacher is that he loves kids, and he wants to help them
become successful. Also, all his family members are teachers.
2: The main challenge as a teacher is that it is hard to motive kids to work when they do not like the subject.
3: The best part of being a teacher is when kids get the point he taught them. He will feel proud of himself.
4: He determines where students sit by alphabetic order of their last name.
5: He do not select any group because he always teaches in whole group.
6: He will call some students’ parents and tell them what their kids are doing in class when these students do not
do well in tests.
7: He needs to teach two grades, sophomore and junior, everyday.
8: It takes about one hour to prepare lessons for a day, and he needs to spend 5 - 10 hours to prepare classes
and grade papers per week.
9: He makes a clear schedule for his students. They can start working on the paper when they arrive the class,
and they know what to do next when they finish the prior one.
10: He has high expectations that students can perform better and always encourages them to solve problems.
Students like to study because they are trusted.
11: There are no specialist teachers in this class because they are for lower classes.
12: He has five tests for students, and he will evaluate his students depending on their homework, classwork, and
the test grades. He will evaluate himself depending on the grades that his students have.
13: He will change his teaching plan if the evaluation is not favorable. Also, he will create more practice for
students because practice makes perfect.
14: There is nothing surprised him about teaching as a profession because his parents are teacher as well. He
exactly knows what it will be.

ASSIGNMENT #6 (Observing a student):

Mathematics is a boring subject. Besides complicated formular, we need to do a lot of practice. During the
observation, a student gave me a deep impression. I remembered that the teacher was teaching trigonometric
functions. To solve a problem, we need to use Pythagorean Theorem to find the missing side of a triangle. Then,
use the functions to find the answer. The student has a note book, and she always takes notes. It can tell that she
is confusing at the beginning from her face, and she is hard to follow what the teacher is teaching. However, after
some practice, she find it is not really difficult. She feels more confident at the end of the class. In my opinion, her
learning style is visual learning because she always learns from what she sees. She hopes that the teacher can
provide more example questions so that she could understand the knowledge better.

ASSIGNMENT #7 (Summary):

Teaching is not as easy as telling a story to the audiences. We need to make sure that they can
understand the knowledge, and we need to change our teaching plans depending on our students. To engage all
students, we need to provide a enjoyable learning environment and make our class interesting. School
environment is important as well because students will perform better if the school can provide a suitable and safe
place for them. Being a teacher is meaningful because one can help students become better, but we need to
know the knowledge and teaching skills well because that will enhance our teaching qualities (Sadker &

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Zittleman, 2016, p. 017). Also, everyone is different. Each individual has his or her learning style, so we need to
include different learning styles while teaching. In addition, according to Sadker & Zittleman, trusting relationships
among parents, students, principals, and teachers are important because it will improve academic performance
(2016, p. 260). Besides, high expectation can improve academic performance as well (Sadker & Zittleman, 2016,
p. 258). Last, learning time is also a key to success (Sadker & Zittleman, 2016, p. 319-320). When I teach, I will
try my best to make the classes interesting so that all students can engage in the classes. I hope they can feel
that math is not boring. What is more, I will respect them and encourage them to try something new. I will offer
different solutions to one question so that my students can feel the magic of mathematics. Of course I hope they
can be successful, so I will have high expectation on them. I will keep learning, and I will be a good teacher.

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