Common Area Observation: School Cafeteria Observation Analysis
Common Area Observation
Submitthe assignment by 11:59 PM PT Sunday of Module 4.
Inthe Module 4 application, you are provided a profile of a school and a specialsituations analysis of the schools cafeteria. You will develop a paper inwhich you make observations about the school cafeteria based on the profile andanalysis and offer recommendations for improvement.
Follow the steps belowand compose your responses in a single, 5- to 7-page Word document (notincluding the title and references pages).
o Use APA format for the title page, references page, and in-textcitations.
Step1. Read the Profile of LacyElementary School, Special Situations Analysis of the School Cafeteria atthe bottom of this page.
Youwill make your observations from the written profile, and compose a papersummarizing the observations and stating your recommendations/action plan forimprovement.
Step2. From the profile, identify those thingsthat help keep the cafeteria calm, orderly, safe, and well managed, along withthose things that contribute to different management or behavioral problems.
Categorizeyour observations in the five areas detailed below, and record your commentsabout each area in a well-developed paragraph.
StudentCharacteristics, Issues, and Factors
Who is demonstrating appropriate andinappropriate behavior? Note where this behavior is occurring (e.g., in theline, at the tables, during the clearing process, when exiting). Note howstudents are responding to others inappropriate behavior, as well as how theon-site staff is responding to different groups of students.
Teacher/StaffCharacteristics, Issues, and Factors
Assess what the teachers and staff in the cafeteriaare doing, what they are supposed to be doing, and how they are influencingand/or responding to appropriate versus inappropriate student behavior.
EnvironmentalCharacteristics, Issues, and FactorsPhysical Plant and Logistics
What are the physical characteristics andconditions of the cafeteria, and how are students and staff arephysically/logistically moving in and around the cafeteria (e.g., in the line,through the serving area, when clearing their tables, upon exiting)? Note howthese physical and logistical factors are contributing to a safe and orderlyenvironment, or a chaotic, problematic one.
Incentives andConsequences
Assess the incentives and consequences for thestudents relative to their appropriate and inappropriate behavior, respectively,in the cafeteria. Note who gives these incentives and consequences, and howthey contribute to the climate of the setting and the interactions of thestudents.
Resources
Assess the resources in the cafeteria (e.g.,the people, materials, space, technology) and how they are being used. Note howthese resources are making the cafeteria experience successful for the studentsand staff, or how they could improve the success of the experience if they wereused more or more effectively.
Step3. Compose a thorough summary reportdetailing the strengths, the weaknesses, and your recommendations/action planfor improving the climate, management, safety, and overall experience forstudents and staff in the cafeteria.
Profileof Lacy Elementary School
Special Situations Analysis of the Cafeteria
LacyElementary School is a K-6 public school located in an urban school district.The oldest school facility in the district, Lacy was built to accommodate anenrollment of 500 but is serving 650 students. Most of the students who attendthis 60-year-old school qualify for the federal breakfast and lunch program.
Lacyis a neighborhood school. However, as a result of a recent rezoning project,200 students ride buses from surrounding neighborhoods. The school cafeteriaopens for breakfast each morning at 7:30 a.m., and school begins at 8:30 a.m.Teachers are not required to report to school until 15 minutes prior to theopening bell, and most do not arrive early.
Teacherassistants or paraprofessionals are paid a stipend to supervise students beforeand after school. However, only two individuals have chosen to supervise in thebreakfast program. Members of the schools PTA volunteer in the cafeteriaduring breakfast, and the principal and assistant principal supervise in thecafeteria on alternate days.
Observation1
Each morning, most students exit the schoolbuses and enter the building through an exterior cafeteria door. The remainingstudents (about 50-75) enter the school through the front doors and proceeddirectly to the cafeteria for breakfast. The cafeteria is furnished withfold-up tables with attached seats. About 300 seats are available. Twoparaprofessionals and one school administrator supervise during breakfast. Inthe mornings, students are generally quiet. They grab their breakfast, find aseat, eat, chat, and finish homework. When they leave, they chatter but notloudly. Most trash is placed in the garbage. Disruptions are rare.
Observations2 and 3
Lacys lunch period begins at 11:15 each dayand ends at 12:45. There are two lunch periods (11:15 a.m.-noon. and noon-12:45p.m.) Teachers have a duty-free lunch period, and, after escorting theirstudents to the cafeteria, they are free to leave. Most teachers elect to leavethe campus for lunch or to eat lunch in their classrooms. Threeparaprofessionals, three parents, and two administrators supervise the twolunch periods.
Lunchis much more crowded and noisier than breakfast. There are only 300 fold-uptables with about 325 students in each lunch period, so extra chairs arebrought in. Students scramble to find seats. Pushing and shoving sometimesoccur. A nearby parent or staff member breaks up the skirmishes. Lines forlunch are long, and it takes about 20 minutes for the students in the back ofthe line to get through. Students talk loudly; some shout. A handful ofstudents wander from table to table. A few students do homework.
Whenstudents need to leave to use the restroom, they must leave their school IDwith the administrator sitting by the door. No more than two students areallowed to go to the restroom at a time. A couple of students plead with theadministrator to go to the restroom even though they forgot their IDs. The administratorlets the first couple of students who ask go, but then says no after that.
Beforethe bell rings, students begin lining up at the door. After the bell rings,cafeteria supervisors open the doors to release the students. (Students in thefirst lunch period go to recess. Students in the second lunch return to theirclassrooms.) Most trash is picked up, but there are some tables cluttered withtrays and garbage. All students leave through one door, creating trafficcongestion. Some push to get through. Two students take off running down thehall back to their classroom. A paraprofessional yells, Walk! The studentsignore the command.
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