Collective Fieldwork Experiences
Fieldwork journal report (see below)
1. Fieldwork journal report (see below)
This course requires 10 hours of fieldwork: 5 hours in a science class and 5 hours in a health/physical education class. See specific requirements below.
***You can compose your fieldwork paper as ONE concise 2-3 paper of your collective fieldwork experiences, but Part 1 and 2 below will support you with what to write about if you are stuck.
Part I. Science Field Observation Journal (5 hours in a science classroom/lessons)
You will keep a reflective journal describing your experience in the science classroom. Below are guides for your time in the field and for your observation journal entries. The journal does not have to be an extensive document, but it will be useful to type your thoughts/observations soon after your time in the field, approximately three-four paragraphs per prompt. You will submit the final journal later in the semester. This is part of your required fieldwork for the course.
Here is a helpful guide:
Week 1-- Observation Focus: Context: What is the context of the school: student body make-up, grades, general classroom demographics, the school environment, classroom setting, school morale, physical environment, social environment of the school and classroom you are observing, etc.? What is the science curriculum in the classroom? Be descriptive in explaining the profile of the classroom to provide a context of learning. EdTPA connection to context of learning .
Week 2-- Observation Focus: Student Diversity: Who is a student least/most like me? How do I teach science for this student, and other students of linguistic, cultural, academic, and social diversity? How different are the students I am observing and will teach? How can you assess what students know and understand in science? What kinds of assessment practices are being used in their science classroom?
Week 3-- Observation Focus: Science Instruction: Is science being taught? How is science being taught? How are students learning and understanding science? What teaching strategies is the teacher using? Do students really understand science? What are students learning in other areas that can be used for making science more relevant and easier to understand? Where could you see science integrated into the regular classroom curriculum?
Week 4-- Observation Focus: Science Communication: How well do students talk about science in the classroom? How well do students make connections between personal talk and language and the language of science? Record some specific examples of what students say in the science classroom where they are communicating their science understanding. How can you help students talk about science in ways that build their understanding of science?
Week 5-- Reflection: Re-read your four journal entries. What did you learn about elementary science from observing and working in this classroom? What did you learn from the classroom teacher and the science teacher? What factors seem to be important in teaching and learning science? How will this field experience aid you in preparing for the microteaching lesson?
Health and Physical Education Field Experience (5 hours)
The purpose of this field experience is to better understand the New York State Physical Education Standards by analyzing what is available to the students in the classroom and school where you are completing your field experience.
Before your observation, please review the three standards for physical education:
http://www(dot)p12(dot)nysed(dot)gov/ciai/pe/pels.html
▪ Personal Health and Fitness
▪ A Safe and Healthy Environment
▪ Resource Management
Possible sites for this observation include schools and/or community health or physical education programs (such as the YMCA, PAL, local sports programs).
When candidates complete the 5 hours of required observation, a written report in the following format should be submitted:
I. Identify, in detail, each site.
a. Date and times each of your visits
b. Address of each school, a description of the community, a description of the school
c. Description of the student population, including number, gender, disabilities
II. Describe school and classroom environment in as many physical education and “recess” activities as possible. Attend at least one physical education class and describe the class in detail.
III. Talk to a physical education teacher and the principle (if possible) about physical education activities that occur throughout the school year. You may want to take a look at the state standards together.
IV. Depending on the age of the students, talk to several of the children about physical activities that they engage in during school hours (including during lunch and recess). Be sure to talk to girls as well as boys. How do these children understand physical education and health? Do they talk about any objectives included in the state standards? Discuss your thoughts on the importance of movement in early childhood settings.
V. Analyze your observation and your interviews in relation to the 3 health and physical education standards. Where does the school seem to meet or exceed the standards? Where does it seem to fall short of meeting the standards?
VI. Personal reflection about what was learned through the field experience
Fieldwork
Student Full Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Full Title
Instructor Full Name
Due Date
Fieldwork
Part 1
The first fieldwork was conducted at Greenburgh Central School District, which is situated at 475 W Hartsdale Ave-Admin Bldg, Hartsdale, NY 10530, on 3rd August, 2023, at 10:30 am. Greenburgh Central School District is a public school comprising of 5 schools (1 preschool, 1 elementary school, 1 middle school, and 1 high school) and 1,677 learners. The school population is largely composed of minority students with 56.2% of learners being eligible to enroll for reduced price meal program. Moreover, 90% of students are from minority communities: 43.3% of learners are Hispanic/Latino, 35.2% Black, 12.8% White, 6.5% Asian, 0.2% Alaska Native/American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian, and 1.8% biracial (U.S. News, 2023). The school population is equally gendered and 7.4% of students are English language learners.
Ms. Nicole’s 4th grade class was selected for the science fieldwork. The class’s student body make-up and general classroom demographics reflected those of the broader school: the classroom was equally-gendered, multicultural, and mostly populated by minority students. Ms. Nicole’s classroom is conducive to instruction and learning: the classroom is clean, neat, with high indoor air quality and suitable heating and cooling. The classroom’s multicultural composition is reflected in the various murals and visuals spread throughout the room. There is low noise levels, little overcrowding, and the physical environment fosters inclusivity and positive attitudes associated with academic achievement, pro-social behavior, and school engagement. The science curriculum is intended to aid learners acquire fundamental scientific concepts as well as improve the processes through which they acquire biological and physical knowledge of their local environment (TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, 2019). Ms. Nicole’s classroom fulfills this objective by integrating a variety of scientific activities aimed at developing learners’ knowledge of science. These classroom activities, which are both teamwork and individual, provide sufficient opportunities for students to conduct scientific investigation and appreciate the application of science in daily life.
White students, who are most like me, are a minority in the science lesson while minority students, who are least like me, comprise nearly the entire class. The student population is different from the one I will teach since a majority of the learners in Ms. Nicole’s 4th grade class are from underserved communities. More than half of the pupils are economically disadvantaged and therefore I will have to adjust how I teach the linguistically, culturally, academically, and socially diverse classroom. I will assess what students know and understand in science by observing students in classroom, paper and pencil testing, portfolios, and interviews. The kinds of assessment practices that are being used in Ms. Nicole’s science classroom are formative and summative tests. The teacher gauges students’ understanding of class concepts by assessing their feedback about a particular aspect of a task. For example, students are given prescribed materials and instructed to apply them in particular ways to illustrate their understanding of scientific principles. In addition to whole class learning checks, Ms. Nicole assesses inquiry by asking students to conduct independent investigations and keep records of their work. These formative assessments are a scaffold for daily classroom activities. Summative assessment practices employed in the classroom include tests where a grade is given to learners based on their aptitude and performance. Summative assessments reveal what students have learned from the lesson as well as the unit-specific skills they have mastered in their individual activities (Jalava, 2021).
Ms. Nicole’s science classroom employs a practical structure for the lesson subject to be learned. It also integrates evidence-based teaching approaches to support student understanding of scientific concepts. For instance, the teacher selects science content that meets the interests, understanding, competency, and experiences of learners. The science curriculum and content standards include specific units and frameworks for selecting particular science topics. However, teachers are allowed to determine those topics that align with student interests and experiences (Kolovou, 2021; Kang & Noh, 2017). Ms. Nicole strives to balance breadth of science topics with depth of understanding by considering the cultural and experiential background of learners and how they impact learning. The students are learning math concepts that can be used in making scientific investigation. Measurements and calculations are integral to scientific inquiry and therefore math supports science in most areas (Al-Mutawah et al., 2022). I saw science integrated into language lessons: the teacher supported science by encouraging students to write short essays on their hands-on experiences while conducting experiments.
The students in Ms. Nicole’s classroom regularly engage in scientific discussions in which they share their interpretations, explain their findings, and support each other in generating new theories as well as making connections between lesson concepts. Students are fairly competent in making connections between personal talk and the language of science. For instance, students will discuss as a class how the scientific concepts covered in th...