Observation Report Behavior Observation Professor Aria Christina Harrigan
Observation Report Behavior Observation Professor Aria Christina Harrigan
Observation Report Behavior Observation Professor Aria Christina Harrigan
Behavior Observation
Professor Aria
Christina Harrigan
On Monday, March 14, I began my first day of observations at the Marie V. Duffy
elementary school in Wharton, NJ. I was assigned to the second grade classroom run by Mrs.
Marina Andrea. Fortunately for me, I was able to observe Mrs. Andrea's classroom back in
November for educational psychology. I was excited to go back and revisit her and her students.
When I first entered the classroom, I noticed the new work the kids had done that she had
displayed around the room. Just from a glimpse of the work, I could tell just how much the kids
had developed since I had last visited. Once I took my seat in the back of the room, I waited for
the kids to come in. At 8:35 AM, the bell rang and I heard the little voices in the hallway. Once
the children came into the room, they immediately noticed someone else was in the room.
Fortunately, many of the students had recognize me for my previous observations. Once they
place their backpacks and jackets on their cubby hooks, they took their seats. Because they had
returned from a weekend, Mrs. Andrea asked about things they all did over the weekend. Once
every child anxiously shared their weekend adventures, she took lunch account. At 8:51 they
headed to their Monday enrichment. From 8:51 to 9:36 AM they would be in the music wing.
During this time, also known as a "prep" period, Mrs. Andrea (who is bilingual), was summoned
to translate a meeting between a parent and the child study team. As I was previously told, Mrs.
Andrea spoke fluent Spanish. Since Morgan has a high Latino percentage, her language skills are
very useful. Before she left, she allowed me to stay in her classroom. While she was gone for
about 10 minutes, I was able to get the ethnography of the classroom.
Once the kids returned, they did a "quick check."This was a worksheet they did daily that had
several common core math problems. Once they finish their quick checks, she allowed them to
"shop" for books in their classroom library. Each child is assigned to a certain reading level (CK), and they had to find one fiction and one nonfiction book from their individual reading level.
During this time, I noticed two students were taken out of the room for extra math assistance.
When they returned at 10:50, it was time for their snack. After they finished snacks, Mrs. Andrea
had them all gather on her reading rug. She was going over what nonfiction was, and decided to
read a book to them about bees. Throughout the reading, she often question the students and kept
on repeating information to them. She included all students, even trying to pull in those who may
have been gazing off. She was very patient and allowed the kids to speak if they could relate
stories or facts that they had known. They truly enjoyed sharing their stories. Once they were
done, they had to start their "back to back" reading. This is when each child has a partner and
they pick a spot around the room and read back to back against one another. During this time, a
reading specialist came into the room and went around listening to each child read. After the 20
minutes of reading, each child had to summarize their book out loud to the class. She soon began
to talk about introduction paragraphs, Which she was teaching the kids to write. After this, the
kids went to lunch and eventually recess. By the end of the day, however, the kids were out of it.
Unfortunately, it was a math lesson, but she was able to get through it with whatever focus they
had left. At 3 o'clock, she had them grab their backpacks, and at 3:05 the bell rang, and they all
left saying "See you tomorrow!"
On day two of my observation, I was lucky enough to be able to view their middle school
production of "Into The Woods." Since the middle and elementary schools are connected, they
always perform for the younger grades. Unfortunately, this cut their Spanish class off early.
When the assembly was over, they return to class. For homework that night, they had to finish
their introductory paragraphs. Mrs. Andrea then had to check and proofread all of their
paragraphs. She even sent some kids to me and I checked their papers. Once they were all
checked, she had them each grab a chrome book to do a reading assignment online. They were
all technologically advanced for their young ages. This online program allowed them to practice
writing sentences and spelling words. I also noticed how the kids had gotten used to me being
there. It was especially exciting for me, however, because they began to call me Miss Harrigan.
They even began to come to me for help during the day. Mrs. Andrea allow them to come to me
for help, and she expressed how much she appreciated me helping her out. It truly made me feel
like this is what I can't wait to do. This was my Aha! moment. This is when it hit me that
teaching really is what I want to do in life.
On my third and final day, the students had gym in the morning. On this day, a student who had
been out sick the whole past week came back. Because they couldn't participate in gym class, I
helped out Mrs. Andrea and help the student catch up on the work they had missed while Mrs.
Andrea prepared for the next lesson. When all the students return from gym class, they began
their science projects which were balancing straws and paper clips together. Throughout most of
the day, I was helping students. After their science projects, they return to writing the first
paragraph for their essays. Wow Mrs. Andrea was reading with children who needed extra help, I
was assisting the children with their paragraphs and proofreading them. Though this was my last
day with them, I was truly grateful that Mrs. Andrea allowed them to come to me for help and
that she had trusted me to do so. When the end of the day arrived, it was bittersweet. It was
precious to hear the comments of the kids, such as "I wish you could stay", "I'm going to miss
you" and "I think you are a nice teacher." I will never forget them leaving out the door yelling
"Bye Miss Harrigan!"
All in all, I really enjoyed this experience best in comparison to others. I feel this way because
I believe the 20 hours was a perfect amount of time to be able to bond with the children and Mrs.
Andrea. She even said to me afterwards that I am free to visit anytime. Hopefully, I will be able
to. Overall, this was a great experience, and it has begun to open my world about my own
classroom in the future.