Clinical Experience Assignment Classroom Observation C&I 222, Fall 2011 There are five hours of clinical experience

required for this course. You will observe at an elementary school or middle school for four of those hours. For the fifth hour, you will be scheduling a time to interview the teacher, in person or through email (whatever is more convenient for the teacher). You will be responsible for finding your own placement in which you gain approval from the classroom teacher, the principal of the school, and the course instructor. (The course instructor can help you connect with a teacher, if needed) For each observation you will take field notes following the guidelines provided. During the interview, you will be taking your field notes to interview the teacher on his/her assessment practices and the relationship between assessment and instruction. You will also write a 3-5 page reflective paper of your experiences recorded in your field notes and from your interview. All field notes and interview must be attached to the reflection paper. 1. Take field notes (one set of field notes for each clinical hour) during your clinical experience that concentrate on the instructional strategies used in the classroom which address and assess the needs of a range of learner characteristics, move across content areas, as well as those promoting reading and writing processes. 2. After completing the four hours of observation and interview, you should write a reflection (3-5 pages in length) providing a written overview of your observations and interpretations, discuss what you learned while observing or participating in the classroom(s), what you learned from the interview, identify advantages and disadvantages of the observed assessment approaches, and explore how you will apply what you have learned to your future classroom in terms of assessing reading development in children. 3. Be prepared to share your experience with your classmates on the last day of class. This will be an informal round-table discussion, but it will be worth 25 points of your grade for the clinical experience assignment. Field Note and Anecdotal Records Requirements

Use Field Notes and Anecdotal Record format for each observation period. Write one set of field notes for each clinical hour during your clinical experience. Concentrate on both formal and informal instructional reading assessment strategies used in the classroom which address and assess the needs of a range of learners. Avoid interpretive and judgmental statements. Instead, list specific details and concrete examples in your notes. You can then use these notes later to base your interpretations. Use abbreviations for common items -- S (student), Ss (students), T (teacher), WB (whiteboard), O (overhead), Q (question) etc. If you do not understand an assessment strategy (or desire confirmation from the in-service teacher), please include this information in your field notes.

Field notes may be submitted for grading in a hand-written format

Information to be included in the Reflection A brief description of the classroom How does the teacher incorporate assessment into the daily routine? What formative assessment is used? What summative assessment is used? What assessment methods did you see used in the classroom? (Personal Communication, Performance, Extended Response, Selected Response) Did you observe any student self-assessment or peer assessment? Describe How does the teacher record the data s/he collects? How is the assessment data communicated to students? How does the classroom teacher monitor the progress of the students? What materials are used? What assessments, in addition to the everyday classroom assessments, are used in this classroom to inform instruction (ISAT, DIBELS, etc.) What approaches do you think you will implement in your own classroom? What approaches do you feel uncomfortable with? Explain why? These questions can be used to get additional information in the teacher interview.

Guidelines for Field Notes

Name: Classroom Teacher: Clinical Observation Site: Date: Time: Grade Level: Subject Area:

Description of the Literacy Activity/Lesson Give a description of the general format of the activities/lessons being observed, specific literacy topic, skills being developed, and instruction format (e.g., whole-class/small-group instruction, independent work time, students working in groups).

Format for Field Notes

Name: Date: Time:

Time

Field Notes (Objective Observations)

Interpretations, Thoughts, Questions, Connections

Observations and Personal Interpretations Make note of what the teacher does to relate his or her expectations to the students regarding student performance. Explore the differing indicators between students who are successful in the activity and those who are struggling. Describe in detail the types of informal and formal literacy assessments used during the observation period. Ask the teacher for clarification/explanation of an activity if needed.