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Observation experience in the classroom
Essay on teacher classroom observations
Observation experience in the classroom
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The first activity was made for the students to decipher what shapes or objects have round edges. The objects included were sphere, cube, rectangular prism, cone, square based pyramid, and cylinder. The students were asked to make two groups of round and not round. The students were allowed to pick up and touch the pieces to get a better understanding of what the objects feel like. After the students had a clear understanding of what objects were round. I gave them objects from the classroom to test on the ramp. The objects were used a tennis ball, a box of crayons, a glue stick, and round and square Tupperware. The students tested the objects to see if they would roll down the ramp. The students were supposed to guess if the object would or not before testing it. If the students did not know if it would roll they were allowed to test it first and then report. …show more content…
The last activity was to test two different types of ramps. One ramp was higher than the other. The students were supposed to make a guess (hypothesis) about which ramp would make the ball go farther. The students were given two ramps and two tennis balls. They were asked to test it multiple times to make sure that the one went farther than the other. Submit a written reflection on the planning and implementation. Consider visual appeal, organization of the center, the clarity of the directions, the quality of engagement and the accessibility of materials. What worked well and what would you do differently? Planning this was difficult because pre-K is not highly curriculum focused.
My children engage in centers everyday for an hour. One of these centers is a science exploration center. This includes magnets, plastic animals, animal bones and shells, and magnified glasses. I chose a motion activity because it was something they had not yet experienced. Implementing the activity was slightly difficult because giving them an activity and expecting them to do it somewhat correctly is difficult. The students get extremely excited and out of control when I implement activities at school. The students were so eager to touch the materials that trying to explain the instructions was difficult. They were extremely excited to use the ramps. The first activity went well most of the students understood what round edges were while others needed some explaining before trying to sort them. The second activity was more difficult for them because some of the objects would slide a little bit down the ramp and they assumed that meant it rolled. The third activity was the most exciting to them because of how far the ball
went. The tri-fold board was visually appealing but because the students cannot read, the board was not extremely use for to them. I wrote simple directions on the board but verbally explained in depth to them so that I knew they had a better understanding. The clarity of directions had to be said verbally therefore I had a good opportunity to see if the child miss understood. I knew which children needed more direct and detailed instructions versus those that could independently work better. The organization seemed to work although it was organized the students were easily distracted. This is something to plan for with this age because of how short their attention spans are. Next time, I would wait to introduce the second incline because this was the biggest distraction. The students were so eager to see how far the ball would go on that one that they missed some content in the other areas. All the materials were objects from the classroom which I believe is beneficial. The students were familiar with these objects and did not need extra instruction time on how to use them. In a pre-K classroom, all new manipulatives have to be thoroughly explained and modeled how to use. Overall, I think this center went well even if the students were slightly distracted. I believe they successful explored more about motion and what objects are better with motion than others.
At 9:30 am, observation last 10 minutes. Kevin was in the sink area. He just finished washing his hands. The teacher called Kevin to go sit in circle time. All the other children were already sitting down in the carpet area.
counting them, and shape by moulding different shapes out of it. It also helps children
I will be splitting the students up into three equal groups. Each team will be given 10 note card. On one side of the notecard (the plane side), students will write down one of their vocabulary words. On the revered sided, the students will write the meaning of the vocabulary word. Once the students have completed, their group will form 2 circle. One circle will be formed inside another. The students in the inner circle will have the two notecards. The students on the outside will have zero. The students in the inside circle will read the word to the students across from them. Using the wait time strategy, they will wait for the student to provide them with the answer. If the answer is correct, the students will read the second. If they get that one write as well the student will wait for me to tell them to rotate to their next peer. If the student gets it incorrect, they must switch places with the students in the inner circle. This process will continue until the activity is complete.
Analyzing and describing: the children begin to analyze shapes and their properties (sides, edges, angles, etc.).
Table 2.2 describes these variations. I created activities that were concrete and straightforward. The investigations were a tool for me to connect students to abstract concepts such as force and motion. McDonald et al. (2002, p. 5) believes that “learners need access to the world in order to connect the knowledge in their head with the knowledge in the world”. To give this access, teachers need practices such as hand-on investigations. Each investigation was aligned with Newton’s Laws of Motion. The concepts in the investigations were observable, and students not only designed the investigations, but they were able to observe the scientific phenomenon through carrying out multiple trials. I chose activities that were not overly challenging or too easy and were suited to the skill and knowledge level of the 7th and 8th grade students. By using the recommendations of Colburn (2000) with structured-inquiry learning segments, students in my study had more control of their
Using the principle “All learning engages the Physiology”, one can assert that all students have the capability to comprehend more effectively when learning involves an experience that requires them to use their senses and their bodies. One study claims that learning occurs through a learner’s engagement with object manipulation so that an accurate mental representation of the object can be formed (Koning & Tabbers, 2011). To this aid the classroom should always foster an environment where learning is hands-on and activity-based. For example, if a primary teacher is teaching her students about shapes, she might want to include an activity where students can get into groups and make the shapes themselves with their bodies. By doing this she is creating a mental picture in the student mind, one that will not be easily forgotten. According to Piaget, imitating a concept with one’s own body is fundamental to form a mental representation of the concept.
When teaching the children, I sit them on a carpet and I either sit in a chair or sit right on the floor with them so I could be at their level. This teaches children how to sit on carpet properly as we do circle time each day. As I’m going over the colors, shapes, letters, and numbers, I’m holding up the item and picture displaying each one. I hold up each item so the children can see and later identify. Each week I’m teaching a new theme.
Easton’s gross motor skill abilities have advanced this semester. He has demonstrated the ability to catch a bean bag with his hands. During Dinosaur week, Easton played a game called “Catch the Dinosaur Egg.” The dinosaur eggs were represented by bean bags. Each child had a partner and they both practiced tossing the bean bags back and forth. Easton enjoys bean bag tosses so much. During Spring week, he played another bean bag toss game, except the bean bags represented butterflies. The children had to make the butterfly fly through the air. Easton had a great time playing this game as well. Being able to catch a bean bag is an example of good hand-eye coordination. Easton is showing signs of having excellent hand-eye coordination. Another
...sticks from the containers. I will model how to roll the tin can and catch it to encourage them to crawl or walk. I will also show them how to open and close the containers. Challenges, I will challenge the infants to pull or push the sticks through the plastic lids. Telling, explaining and informing, while the children open, close, pull, push or roll the containers, I will name them what they are doing or playing with.
The student didn’t have any problems stacking the cups. Next, Mrs. Banks conducted the scanning assessment. She gave the student an I Spy Book and asked the student to identify and object on the page. Mrs. Bank discussed with me to always observe how close the student holds the book to their face which was 3 inches from her face. The student was able to identify red, yellow, blue, and green during the color vision task. The I Spy book was also used for visual discrimination. Next, the student was assessed with the visual motor task. The student was given shapes to cut out and Mrs. Banks advised to make sure that all shapes are printed dark enough. Activity cards were used for the visual closure tasks. The student was asked what is different in the picture and was able to identify that the girl was missing a shoe and hair. The learning media assessments was the last part of the assessment. Mrs. Banks gave the student a sheet with different size fonts on it. The student was asked to read each line. The student couldn’t read the line with 12 font but could read 18 and 24 font lines. A book was given to the student on a lower level to measure the student’s reading rate. Mrs. Banks advised me to use a book well below the student’s reading level because I am not determining reading level; I am measuring the reading rate.
All- The children went to the conference room to do some activities. The children got to play and build with large cardboard boxes. They stacked them on top of one another, made houses knocking them down and putting them back together again. The children asked the teachers for assistance with stacking the boxes when they became too high to stack. They also stacked the boxes from smallest to biggest and biggest to
The class I visited is comprised of 24 five and six year old children, a lead teacher and a ‘Para-Pro” who assists the teacher and provides support and guidance for the children. Within the classroom itself, there are 6 tables organized in the center of the room in a grid formation. Children have their own workspace at a shared table. Around the perimeter of the room are ‘centers’ where each day, the children work on tasks such as listening, story development, gross and fine motor skills, math, reading and other important skills that are needed to develop socially and academically. In several places on the walls, there are displays or ‘brag boards’ where children can post their work that they feel best represents their efforts. The walls are brightly decorated and are filled with pictures, letters, numbers and other basic elementary school information. It is energizing and interesting without being chaotic or overstimulating.
In this lesson, students have a lot of opportunities to use their visual skills to recognize basic two-dimensional shapes as well as objects in the environment which relate to three-dimensional shapes. At this level, students can use geometrical language when describing and explaining their geometry knowledge.
The school that I visited was new. It was the first year of the school opening. The school board had combined two schools into one, so the students had to adjust to their new environments and new individuals. They seemed to be getting along well with each other. Since the school is new the teacher has to adjust to new problems that araise. Times for the subjects and times for using the computer labs change. So the teacher must always be fixable for anything. In this observation of this classroom I learned about the enjoyment of teaching. How you have to adapt to each of the students.
The students that I observed in the classroom were of middle to high school. I went to see 8th, freshman, 10th , and seniors classes, they seemed excited and very curious to why I was there. The middle school was more alive and rambunctious while I observed them. The High school kids were more relaxed, more comical. Some were paying attention while others seemed tuned out to the lecture or involved in socialization with friends within the class. By the end of the class Mr. Hasgil had restored the attention of everyone by using tactics such as history jeopardy with candy as the prize with the high school kids. In both he middle school and high school the kids were mostly Caucasian with a mixture of black, Asian , and Hispanic in the classes.