WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY TL330 1

Cody Olsen
Diversity 330
WSU College of Ed
Classroom Observation

1. What is the general layout of the classroom and resources available for you to use
for your lesson and stations? Whiteboard, projector, laptop, document camera,
smartboard, Chromebooks, etc.? What supplies do the children generally have in
their desks that they can use?
The general layout of the classroom is that the desks are set up in groups of 4. There are 24
students in Ms. Bartons 3rd grade classroom at Jefferson Elementary. The classrooms
technology looked like, to me, that it needed to be updated. The document camera was
outdated and showed poor quality on a smaller than usual screen. I did not notice any
Chromebooks available to the students or a smartboard. The children had a notebook to write
their daily journals in and some math worksheets because while we were there they were
working on their number of the day 246.

2. What are some of the classroom dynamics to consider? Number of boys and girls in
the class? What grouping strategies might you consider for your stations?
Like I said, there were 24 students in the classroom that day that we were there. The ratio of
boys to girls was pretty evenly matched. The grouping strategy that I would go with for that
class would be similar to what Ms. Barton had going on. (Groups of 4) The classroom was
not very big and couldnt hold much more than what they already had. When we went to
carpet time, the carpet circle was oblong and not everyone was on the carpet. The amount of
space was very small.

3. What are some of the general mathematics concepts that all of the students in your
grade level can understand/use, regardless of their math grouping? Are there
particular mathematical concepts that the teacher thinks would be useful for your
lesson to use?
Ms. Barton mentioned that place value is very important in the 3rd grade. They were working
on the number of the day, which I mentioned was the number 246, and they had a worksheet
in front of them explaining different ways of getting to that particular number. I really liked
the worksheet and the concept of working with a number of the day. They were working on
number lines, place value, addition, subtraction, using a picture with the number to show its
value, and so on. We are currently in the process of exchanging emails with Ms. Barton in
order to find a good lesson to use with the students.
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY TL330 2

4. What are some of the main themes in the social studies curriculum for your grade
level that might be a good tie in for your lesson?
This was a very diverse class that Ms. Barton is working with. Students with all sorts of
different backgrounds. I think it would be a great lesson if we focused on culture and went
from there. Emily, Kaelyn, and I are going to have a meeting on what social studies we will
tie into our lesson, but we do know that we want the focus to be on their cultures.

5. What social studies resources do you observe in the classroom (maps, texts, books,
etc)?
I noticed that Ms. Barton had a globe and a big map on the wall. I did not go as deep into it to
ask if she had books on the matter, but I did notice that the students had books at or in their
desks. My students in my practicum learn about social studies through a pamphlet book that
we complete weekly on a particular place.

6. Regarding ELL students, what is the first/home language? Are they receiving
services in the school? How many years? What strategies have teachers used that
were helpful?
This was honestly the most diverse classroom that I had been in. But, Ms. Barton had one
ELL student, I believe the student was of the European descent. The student is receiving
services and one of them is listening and following along in a book while it reads it to her in
English and the Native Language. Seeing specialists helps the ELL students and they seem to
really enjoy going to learn with them also.

7. Regarding students with special needs, what accommodations do you need to

consider for reading, math, language arts, social studies? Think about students with
documented IEPs and 504 plans as well as those that do not have official plans on
file. What strategies have been successful?
Ms. Barton has one student with special needs. She has an IEP for speech. She actually cannot use
words to communicate. She has an iPad at her desk at all times and the specialist wants her to use that
to communicate. Her parents would like her to learn sign language in the long run. Ms. Barton said
that the doctors are saying that she will never speak. She makes noises and hand signals to
communicate from what I saw. She can hear just fine. The accommodations that need to be
considered are sitting closer to the screen if a student has a hard time seeing or hearing, extra time to
complete assignments, extra breaks in between working, modified assignments, and so on.