RJA #13a: Field Research Report

I work at a school and I do the before and after school program. So I decided for my field research that I would go observe a class for a day so that is what I did. I went and observed a fourth/fifth grade class with a teacher I know who teaches there. I brought a notebook and a pen with me and watched for certain things in the classroom. I looked for the student teacher in interaction along with student to student interaction. I also looked to see if the teacher assigned group activities/work. I also looked to see if the teacher tried to bring all her students together when teaching something or when asking questions. I also looked to see if the more quiet students interacted with the teacher if needed or even his or her peers. These were all important because socialization is key in my paper.

RJA #7c: Field Research Plan

For my field research I have a couple options that I'm thinking about about doing. My first option is to go observe a classroom. I work at a school doing the before and after school daycare, so I would probably just set up a day at that school with one of the teachers. I don't know what grade I would want to sit in on yet. I think anything older than first or second grade would be fine. I would be looking for how the students interact with each other and if there is a lot of group activities and observe that type of setting. I would also look for how much attention is given to the students individually. If I decide to do this as my field research I will probably do it in the next month. My second option is to interview a sociology teacher at Metro. I took an intro to sociology last year and probably could ask that teacher if I could interview her. I would ask her how important is socialism for students. Maybe even talk about the developmental theories like Piaget and Vygotsky theories on the subject matter. Piaget talks about hands on student learning and Vygotsky discusses the zone of proximal development. If I decide to do this I will also do this within the next month.