Fieldnotes:
In general, you will be acting as participant-observers, documenting educational environments you are engaged in.  Your field notes should be written within 24 hrs of your observation and turned in to me on a similar time-scale.  Your field notes should not be less than most of a page. 

Heading:
Your name:  J. Smith
Field Site:  e.g. Boulder Prep, Lafayette Elementary, Casa, San Diego Remote
Instructor(s):  all University Educators and the teacher or community contact
Date:  Tuesday, mm/dd/yy
Times of observations: 1pm – 2pm
Number of Students present:  25
Topics Covered:  e.g. Magnet Lab

General Observation:
Here you are setting the scene for those who will read your notes.  Describe the things you notice when you come in.  Describe the general atmosphere, your state of mind (did you get stopped for speeding trying to get to site on time?), feelings expressed by others.  This section describes the view from a wide angle.  It should contain lots of observations about the site you enter and how you find your way in to the day’s interactions.  Your early notes should describe the people and physical spaces you encounter.  In later notes, you should mark changes, things that are unusual.  This section is usually about one paragraph long.  

Narrative Description:
Here you are zooming in to your interactions with and observations of the students and other instructors at the site.  Try to describe your interactions or observation of others as accurately as you can.  Be careful to report behaviors rather than imputing your interpretation of the students thought process or mental state.  In this sense you are capturing information (like a video camera would) without interpreting it.   For example, “The students formed in 4 groups.  Two of 5 and two of 6 students.  Group 1 had 5 students.  Two of the students are discussing the graph in problem 3, three are quiet.  One student X, sat in the corner and refused to participate with his arms crossed”.  This is the longest section of the field note and contains several paragraphs.  It should be as long as it takes you to describe your time at site.  

Reflection:
Here you state your thoughts and opinions about what happened in the learning environment.  This is where you would add your interpretation of key points in the narrative.  What have you learned about your own understanding and others’?  You can bring in your background experiences or any information that helps frame your thoughts about the interactions at site.