INTRODUCTION.  During the second week in the field I want you to observe the "behavior settings" to which children are subjected.   I realize that your McDevitt/Ormrod text book does not discuss the topic of "Behavior Settings" so here is a short explanation of this concept.  The concept of a behavior setting was initially identified by ecological psychologists See Chapter 1 table of theoretical perspectives in Table 1-1).  A Behavior Setting is an "activity" that has a specific "population" that takes place in a "habitat" for a period of "time".  "Activities" usually have some rules that are necessary to follow in order for them to exist: an example might be a teacher reading a story to a classroom of children who must listen to the teacher's reading over a period of time.  Note in this example two behaviors, "teacher reading" and "children listening".  In order for this behavior setting to be in operation the teacher must read and the children must listen.  In the McDevitt/Ormrod text on page 57, they show a table of "Observational Guidlines" where they mention the concepts of "On-task and Off-Task Behaviors".  In order to define what "on-task" behaviors should be one should be able to describe the "behavior setting" or context within which they occur. KEEP THIS SIMPLE.  We're asking you to describe in as few words as possible the behavior settings such as "Teacher reads story; children do seat work filling in the blanks; children discuss with each other the plot of the story; cooperative groups of children solve a problem; etc."  In your narrative be sure to include the behaviors that are required of both the teacher and the children.  This observational assignment will be an attempt at simply determining the frequency and types of behavior settings children encounter through their school day.  To do this randomly select one target child and observe what s/he encounters throughout the day.  Do this for only one day during your second week in the field.  We would like to see how many different behavior settings the child encounters and how long they are.  Use the template below to chronicle this.  You should actually capture the form below and have hard copy available during your observation.  Then, type it up later for posting on the web in our On-Line-Discussion Space.
 

Below is a form that I want you to use as a template for this assignment.  Merely highlight, copy, and paste it into your word processor.  Use the template to write out the assignment.  Have the assignment completed after the second week in the field and "highlight/cut/paste" it into the message window of our Online Discussion Site as your FIELD ASSIGNMENT #2.  Be sure to come back later and REACT to someone elses posting of the field assignment.  Thus, even though we are all out in the field we can stay connected and see what each other is experiencing. Also, I want you to print it out and turn it in when you return to campus for our Monday class on 2-10-2003.

Your Name:

Date:

Describe the ages and grade level of the classroom you have been assigned:

School District and School:

Classroom Grade Level:

Approximate age range:

Narrative description of the child you have selected to observe:
[put your narrative description here]
 
 

Behavior setting #1:
[narrative description of the behavior setting here, be sure to include the behaviors of both the teacher and the child/children!]

    Beginning time: [ 00:00 ]
    Ending time:    [ 00:00 ]
    Total time:     [ 00:00 ]

    With regard to on-task/off-task behaviors, how often would you roughly estimate that your child was:
        on-task:        [%   ]
        off-task:       {%   ]

Behavior setting #2:
[narrative description of the behavior setting here, be sure to include the behaviors of both the teacher and the child/children!]

    Beginning time: [ 00:00 ]
    Ending time:    [ 00:00 ]
    Total time:     [ 00:00 ]

    With regard to on-task/off-task behaviors, how often would you roughly estimate that your child was:
        on-task:        [%   ]
        off-task:       {%   ]

[continue this format until you end the observations, duplicate the above format as many times as necessary]

How many different behavior settings did you observe:
[narrative description here]

What was the average length of time for each behavior setting?
[narrative description here]

Are any behavior settings more likely to obtain higher or lower percentages of on-off-task behaviors?
[narrative description here]

TRY TO RELATE WHAT YOU HAVE OBSERVED TO OUR MCDEVIT/ORMROD!