Field Notes and Thick Description

Here are a few things I noticed as I was typing up my field notes from the past week:

• I always take field notes on Wednesday.... so the same kids are always at the same station. For example "Sam" is always at read to buddy. I think I might need to change this up- still take field notes once a week, but take them on different days so I have data on students at a variety of stations and I will have information abut the station with a variety of children. You would have thought I would have noticed this before today... but oh well. Better late than never!
• The most "off task" behavior is happening at working on writing. There is too much time being spent on coloring their illustrations and not enough time actually writing. I think I might need to revamp this station. Maybe put a timer there and only allow them to color for a certain about of time?? Or just find more creative things for them to write about- I think I will check out pinterest for some ideas. Any readers ideas would be helpful too!

Thick Description... I am really nervous about this. I am loving the way I take my field notes in a two column chart but I am not so sure that I really have been doing thick description. I feel better after reading my groups examples- but am still just feeling hesitant about it. So... here it goes!

Amanda is a six year old African American student in my classroom. She is reading just above grade level. Amanda is very well behaved and a very hard worker. I know that her parents have extremely high expectations for her behavior at school, and she has consequences for misbehavior. Her Mom and Dad are involved in her education and always want to know what they can do to help her if she is struggling with any concept. Through my observations she is almost always on task and working hard during Daily Five and I think some of this has to do with her work ethic and the expectations her parents and teacher have set for her. Today as I sat at the reading group table observing, Amanda walked up to the Word Work table, int the front of the room,  and had a seat in the chair. She got out the tub of colored markers and a piece of paper. She immediately began writing her spelling words for the week. She worked on this for about ten minutes. As Amanda was nearing the bottom of her page, there was some talking with the other student at the word work table. It appeared to me that they were talking about which colors of markers they were using, but I was not close enough to actually hear the words.  Then I noticed that she had filled up her paper with her words. Amanda put the tub of markers back on the shelf and opened up a drawer next to the shelf to get out new materials. She got out a dry erase board, marker, and eraser. I saw her begin to write her words on the dry erase board. When time was up, and the teacher made the signal to change groups, Amanda cleaned up the dry erase materials and put them back into the drawer. Then she walked over to her next group (with the teacher).

Sam is a six year old Caucasian boy in my classroom. This is his first year at Sandersville, the adjustment at the beginning was tough, but now Sam is a hard worker and tries his best to please his teacher. Sam is reading right at first grade level, but is still writing very phonetically. He has nice handwriting and wants to succeed. Today Sam was at Read To Buddy. On his Daily Five survey he indicated this is his favorite stations. Sam and his partner are sitting on the floor on the black carpet in the middle of the classroom library. They are both sitting near each other, however they are not sitting criss-cross applesauce. They are both sitting on their knees and are looking at the book they have selected to read. I can see from the round table that they are reading an Arthur book together. The boys are reading nicely at a level one and are turning the pages at a good speed. I can tell they are using the "I read, you read" method they learned where they take turns reading the pages. Sam reads his page and then sits and listens as his partner reads his page. After the boys have finished reading the Arthur book, they get the book No David out of one of their book bins. No David is a favorite in my classroom. They continue to do "I read, you read". I see the boys reading the words and turning the pages. Then on the page where David runs naked down the street, I see them pointing at the picture and laughing. This image is exactly what I want to see in my classroom- students reading and enjoying literature together. They are learning, becoming better readers, and having fun while they are doing it!