Elementary Observation Form

Observer (Cadet): Jack Tanklefsky Date: 9/27/18

Site: Kohl Teacher’s Name(s)

Approximate Age (Or Age Ranger) of Students: 8-10

What impressions do you have of the overall environment?

It is an open interesting room with variant desk sizes. They have a respect to the teacher, but
the teacher is much more “hands off” than other classrooms-- they give assignments and let
the kids complete it, going around to help kids out.

What are the students learning?

Students were drafting summaries for an online article about Isaac Newton that they read.
They are given a basic outline that they base their writing on.

What stage(s) of physical development do you observe? Give evidence.

I can distinctly see concrete operational stage. They are looking at the summaries that they
are writing and forming what they are writing and why. They need to understand what they are
writing, the punctuation to use and when.

What stage(s) of cognitive development do you observe? Give evidence.

The middle child development is prevalent in this classroom. They are focusing on their fine
motor skills of writing summaries and not on other fine motor skills like handwriting ability.

What student-to-student interactions do you observe?

They are reading each other's assignments and ask for help from peers when needed. They
also discuss the assignment and talk of other things, such as sports, when helping each
other.

What teacher-to-student interactions do you observe?

Teachers are much more standoffish than they were at a lower elementary level. They give
times when the assignments should be turned in-- or near the time when they should be about
finishing up on what was assigned. An individual’s work is important, what they know and
don’t know and how this can be applied to classwork.

What technology is being utilized, if any?

The students were all drafting their summaries on Chromebook computers, tech being
available and abundant in the classroom.
What are the strengths and/or challenges of this classroom?
Students are almost completely independent in classwork after it is assigned. They are more
than welcome to ask questions regarding the assignments, but for the most part, follow the
rubric and guidelines independently. They might, however, get distracted with the classroom
freedom that they are offered. Because they are so independent, they might get distracted.