As I entered the classroom, I noticed that the preschool classroom in which I was observing is rectangular shaped. The front door of the room was in the middle of the main wall with a swing next to it. The wall right across from it was covered with five large windows that had different areas under it. On the right side of the room where the cubbies were located, there was a projector with a half circle table. The projector was currently playing “Old McDonald.” The bookcases on the left side of the room held textbooks, but they were not filled. Although the room was rectangular the wall on the entry was filled with gross motor activities halfway along the wall. The walls in this area are covered with children work, a calendar, teacher memos …show more content…
However, she only said “hi” or waved at them. After some time, the children began to sit at the small table or on the floor near the Sarah and complete their work. By this time, the classroom teacher began walking around the room interacting the children, checking on progress and seeing if they were on task. The atmosphere of the classroom was very warm. Students would walk around the class with no difficulties. After being in the classroom for about 15 minutes, the special education teacher came into the room. After speaking to the paraprofessional quickly, he then went over to the classroom teacher. Now Sarah was sitting in her chair and looking around the classroom. Although the classroom children were “helping” her with her class work, she appeared to be indifferent to the students and the assignment. The paraprofessional was helping all the students near her, as the regular education teacher continued just to look around. Even when the efforts of the other students and paraprofessional were to help her engage her in the classroom activity, she wanted to be aware. After a few minutes, the special education teacher began to talk with me about his role in the class and what the students in the classroom were trying to do with Sarah. Once again, I noted that Sarah seems to be more interested in the class and looking at the other students walking about then the other children and the paraprofessional working with
The disabilities identified were Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Emotional Disturbance (ED), and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The special education teacher began to interact with all of the students right as they entered the classroom and also while the teacher provided them with instruction. She was extremely personable and approachable. It was apparent that even though it was a three- week summer school session, she had established a connection with the students and, therefore, developed a learning bond in the process. The boys seemed to have a great bond as well, and they worked together to complete their assignments. There were also obvious interactions among the boys that were unrelated to the lesson but not disturbing or distracting to the class. The special education teacher jokingly came near the boys and began to talk to them and suggested they continue to work together to keep each other engaged. The special education teacher mentioned that there were times when the boys will not respond to encouraging them to stay engaged and will resist her advances. Therefore, she has to make the decision when to press on to get them involved and when to back off and give them some time with the hopes that they will
This Semester I observed a three-year-old girl named Allie. Allie attends preschool at Land of Learning; she is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. It was my pleasure observing her and getting to know her. She is a very sweet outgoing girl that doesn’t let her disability get to her. I observed and assisted Allie throughout her days at preschool. I assisted her and observed her with recess activities, eating lunch, and daily school projects. My past observation experiences I observed at Westgate elementary school in a class room mixed with students with learning disabilities, ADHD and also ELL students the class was taught by Ms. Lewis. I observed a second grade ELL classroom and also a fourth grade classroom. I observed these students during school
The facility I did my observation at was Tutor Time in Fairfield, and I arrived there at 3:15pm. When I arrived there, I could instantly see that it was a child centered program by the feel of the artwork the kids had made that were on the walls, the passing classrooms and it smelled like sugar cookies throughout the building. It was very quiet in the office area and in the halls when I was walking to the class of preschoolers.
When I walked into the school, I was greeted by the receptionist who kindly showed me where to sign in and then directed me to the teacher I would be observing for the day. The staff was dressed very appropriate for the day and on Friday they were able to wear pink because it was October. Although I did not see much interaction with factuality with each other, I was able to witness when the teachers of a certain grade would come to pick up their students. I saw how the teachers interacted with Mrs. Lee and they were very respectful. The student’s behavior varied from class to class. Most of the classes were well behaved with only a few students causing disruption. Mrs. Lee had warned me that the kindergarten class is normally noisier than other classes, but to her surprise the students were very quiet and did their work independently with no interruptions. Mrs. Lee did a wonderful job at keeping the students disciplined within the classroom. She would give positive re-enforcement and correct students when they would do something incorrectly. She worked really well with the students and they students responded in a respectful manner to Mrs.
The daycare that I visited was Rosemont Daycare and Preschool. This center is faith based and I was able observe the “Duck Class” which was the age group of four and five year olds. I went to observe on February 11th and 16th, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 and the 18th from 3:00 to 6:00. On the 11th and 16th, there were a total of 12 children in the Duck class. At 9:00 the children were engaged in circle time meaning that the children were learning about their bible verse for that month which was “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” The children then discussed what they thought that meant. On the 11th I was present to see the children, the ones I decided to observe were Kali, Roslyn, Fiona, and Brayden. When the children were doing crafts I sat near the counter island in the class room so I was out of the way but still able to see and hear what the kids were doing and saying at the table.
Sometimes, as educators, we think that we are doing a great job with the environment we are putting children in, but it is important that we take things from the child’s perspective as well. Children need a space that conforms to their needs and can be adjusted at any time. They need to understand how to make adjustments themselves, like pulling a curtain across to create a quiet space. Educators need to put materials that have multiple uses and different areas as well. This will help their imagination to think outside the box. Keeping creativity alive will also boost child’s development. When they are given time and a space to work quietly with others, with the help of a room divider, children are learning cooperating skills that benefit everyone. But I believe the most important point in this article is to keep educators thinking about children when they design a child’s environment. Don’t forget that the most important thing that can be done to help foster the child is not set unbendable restrictions on their environment. The more flexible and adjustable an educators views may be will provide a more positive environment for the children
This observation was mostly conducted behind a one way glass. I watched the children but they did not know I was there. The ages of the children served in that program were in the range of 18-36 months. Curriculum used in that program is considered Creative. Qualifications for staff must hold to work in this program is a Child Development Associate’s degree (CDA) or Bachelors in Early Childhood Education.
For this field assignment, I chose to observe a seventh grade self-contained math class at William A Morris I.S 61 on Staten Island. I am currently a substitute teacher at the school and has worked at this school for approximately two years. For the purpose of this observations, I worked with Mr. Karl Knutsen, a 6th and 7th grade math, special education and technology supervisor at the school. Mr. Knutsen has been a teacher for seven years and has worked in I.S 61 for five. He currently teaches all self-contained math classes and is the "tech guy" for the building, meaning he is the go-to guy for all SmartBoard or computer based questions and emergencies. I am currently observing and working with Mr. Knutsens first and second period 7th grade class, 717. This class has 12 students, 11 boys and 1 girl, ranging in ages 13-14. Each student has an IEP for varying
I completed my final observation on October 15 at the UTC Children’s Center at Battle Academy. When I arrived to my classroom, the students were on a field trip so I quickly went down to the fire hall on Main Street to meet up with the class. At the fire hall, parents, as well as the two teachers accompanied the students. The students arrived back in their classroom around 11:10, and that is when the parents left. After the field trip the children ate lunch in the cafeteria, had a brief lesson in the classroom, and played outside. The class I observed was preschool, with most children around 3 to 4 years old. All the children seemed to be developing normally. There were 7 boys and 3 girls present in the classroom.
The child I observed is Lucy, she is three years old, weighs about 30 lbs, and is 35.5 inches tall. Lucy is white, has blonde hair and blue eyes. In her usual household Lucy lives with her mother, father, older brother and older sister. Due to some flooding in the basement, the family had to temporarily move out of their home and into the father’s parents’ house. At the time of the observation the members in the house hold consisted of Lucy, her brother, sister, mother, father and paternal grandmother and grandfather.
While walking through the front gates of County elementary school, you see children of all ages playing while they wait for the school bell to ring. Walking to the classroom that I will be observing you see students with their parent’s line up waiting to get signed in. The students are to be signed in by a parent or guardian for safety precautions, and shows that the child was signed into school. As a visitor, I am to sign myself in, this shows I was in the classroom, at what time was I there, and reason for visiting the classroom.
For 12 weeks I observed a young pre-schooler Child C aged 31/2 years old, through my account I would give an observer’s view of Child C, three theories peculiar to Child C and my the emotions evoked in me as an observer. My observation assisted in my understanding of the changes in Child C as the week progressed over the 12 weeks.
I observed at St. Eve’s Learning Center location in their preschool room. The center has a naturalistic feel to the environment and all of the staff is friendly and welcoming. The classroom displayed best practices, modern theories and research, and followed expected standards set by their accreditations.
In electing to observe a kindergarten class, I was hoping to see ‘real world’ examples of the social development, personality types and cognitive variation found within the beginning stages of “Middle Childhood” as discussed within our text.
The two children that I have interacted with this week at the Early Childhood Education Center from the Willows group is Emily and Harriet. I got a chance to interact with these two girls this week. They are both so much fun to play with and be around. With Harriet, we played in the dirt box and played with the musical instruments. We also played with her stuffed little gray and white cat and a toy tiger. With Emily, we played doctor and played in the kitchen area. Together Emily and I played nurse and doctor to make her little baby feel better and got to play dress up with it. We also played some in the kitchen to make food for the baby as well. From what I have learned from Harriet and Emily is that they have two different personalities.