Classroom Observation:
During my time at CAPS, students went out to different schools each week. We helped out at a school of our choice to experience what it would be like to be a teacher. My class observations were held between March 2nd and March 13th, 2020 at Cedar Hills Elementary, which was my childhood elementary school. I observed an elementary art class that was taught by Mrs. Safles and got to experience several different grade levels including kindergarten through fifth.
Mrs. safles’ classroom was bright and fun which made the room cheerful and exciting to be in. The students seemed excited when entering the room and Mrs. Safles’ cheerful upbeat personality made the class even more fun to be a part of. Even though Mrs safles had an extremely sweet personality she was also very good at keeping her students on-track during class. She used different methods of teaching with each grade level and gave the older students more freedom to work on their own. Mrs. Safles class was the highlight of my day and a very fun environment to be involved with.
She engaged her students by telling them her weekly plans for each class and putting examples of what each grade level’s assignments should look like when completed on her whiteboard in the front of the classroom. She did this so her students would know what to expect for the up-coming week and would be excited to start their new projects. Each grade level had different skills that they were expected to achieve at this time.
The assignments got more complex as the grade levels went up so Mrs. Safles had to plan everything out for each class before getting started. Whenever her classes would start a new project she would show her students how to complete the assignment by making an example one in front of the class on her smart board. All of the students seemed to like the way she taught and enjoy the amount of freedom they got while working on their projects during this class period.
Mrs. Safles kept the class on task by using a points system, she rewarded her class for good behavior. She would take points away if the class was misbehaving which would cause the class to stay on task and keep focused during their class. After a class would earn a certain amount of points they would be rewarded with a “free day” where the students were free to do any art related activity they wanted to partake in.
On normal class days each student would make their own project but before the students began working on their own they would all sit on the carpet in the front of the room to get further instruction. Mrs. Safles would explain the plan for the day and then release them to their tables to work. While her students worked at their tables she would walk around the room to see if anyone had any questions.
Students had free seating and would usually sit with their friends during class. Although most of the students liked this freedom, there were a limited number of kids that could sit at one table and I found that some students felt left out.
The most memorable moment during my time observing Mrs. Safles Art class was the look of surprise on all of the students' faces when they realized there was a second adult in their classroom and all of the questions on why I was there and where I came from. I had so much fun partaking in her class and being able to help her students. I learned a lot about how to teach to different grade levels and how you may have to change teaching styles for different students. Overall I had an amazing time and am extremely happy I got to observe Mrs. Safles Art Class.